


Growing the Fuck Up

by salty_mommy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Ambiguous Relationships, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bad Decisions, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Beta Wanted, Bookstores, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Bottom Lance (Voltron), Cats, Coffee, Complicated Relationships, Consensual But Not Safe Or Sane, Consensual Sex, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Drunk Blow Jobs, Drunk Sex, Drunken Flirting, Drunken Kissing, Drunkenness, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Existentialism, F/F, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Food, Fun, Gay Sex, Hand Jobs, Homesick Lance (Voltron), How Do I Tag, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, I AM DOING MY BEST, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Internal Conflict, Italian Character(s), Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Kinks probably, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Lance can cook, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Nerdiness, No Lesbians Die, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Party, Pizza, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Please Don't Hate Me, Regret, Roommates, Rough Sex, Safer Sex, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Sex Addiction, Sex Toys, Sexuality Crisis, Shower Sex, Snacks & Snack Food, Top Keith (Voltron), Top Lance (Voltron), Topping from the Bottom, Vines, did i mention i wanted lance to have a happy ending, i like writing when i am hungry, lots of smut, safe is a weird word, some of it is, underaged drinking, you might get hungry sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2019-06-15 08:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15408648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salty_mommy/pseuds/salty_mommy
Summary: After wasting his first semester of college being wasted, Lance decides to buckle down and hit the books and act like a goddamn adult. Join Lance on this strange hot mess of a self-discovery adventure of love, hate, and most importantly: growing the fuck up!





	1. Straightening Out

**Author's Note:**

> Not the most exciting chapter ever, but there is more yet to come!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we begin our story with our deeply flawed, but deeply adored protagonist: Lance McClain!

Clouds from his breath steamed by and faded away as quickly as they were produced. Lance McClain was like a human factory. Even with it being a Friday night, he was heading home from the campus library around closing time.

Maybe if he had played his cards a little differently, Lance would be having fun at a party. Perhaps he would already be wasted, surrounded by a sea of slurring sorority girls and friendly frat boys celebrating the end of another productive week.

Unfortunately, partying was the reason he had found himself in this situation. Instead of studying for calculus, he had been studying the inside of his classmate's mouth. If he hadn't been hungover, he wouldn't have slept through his noon class and missed an entire day of notes.

If he had any hopes of pulling his grades up and keeping his scholarship, Lance would need to buckle down and find a way to keep his grades stable this semester.  
Knowing his roommates were probably tinkering with something in the lab of the mechanical engineering department, Lance decided to grab a coffee and maybe some dinner. Because it was late and his options were limited, Lance ended up at some retro diner he hadn't noticed before. He made a note of the name, Café Altea, just because it was open at such a late time and who knows when he'll need pick-me-up pancakes at three in the morning again.

The chrome exterior was like a funhouse mirror lined with thin pipes of lit neon. He caught his reflection on the wall briefly as he had his fingers curled behind the door handle.  
He blinked in astonishment. He was really hoping it was the dingy pastel lighting or distortion caused by the metal siding because he looked rough. Lance played it off and entered, seating himself on one of the powder pink and teal vinyl barstools. There were few people in the café, but that was to be expected. it was, after all, a college town on a Friday night.  
A woman, who, by the look of her teal uniform, presumably was a waitress, was cleaning off the tables and booths with disinfectant spray and a clean rag. The woman's hair was pulled back into a curly ponytail at the back of her head, and her motions were quick and efficient without any error.

Another customer was there, the mechanical engineering professor, with his shiny mechanical fingers wrapped around the steaming white porcelain cup of coffee. He was well known by the students (maybe some staff) around campus for being the hottest professor. He had a haircut that would be better suited for an art student and a tragic scar on his face that gave him this heart-wrenchingly seductive vibe. Hunk once told him about him. Shiro Takashi, one of the youngest professors at only twenty-five years old. After graduating, he became employed at his alma mater as the mechanical engineering professor because he created his own prosthetic arm. According to Hunk, said prosthetic arm also had a Bluetooth speaker in it, but Lance thought that was a bit far-fetched.

The professor was animatedly chatting with the waiter, who was hovering above him, half a pot of coffee in his hand and his mind decidedly somewhere else. He looked worse than Lance did! His hair was pulled back into a pathetic tuft of a ponytail and the bags under his eyes somewhat resembled greying bruises. It wouldn't surprise Lance if he was told the man hadn't slept in a week.

The woman straightened out her back and admired her work before she caught the reflection of the diner in the window. "Keith," she called out in a strange yet alluring accent, "customer".

This 'Keith' looked up with a blank expression and let his eyes roam about near every empty booth, chair, and barstool in the place before his eyes finally landed on Lance. Lance could all but see the energy being drained from the waiter's face. He felt like he shouldn't burden the boy further.

"Can I help you?" Keith asked, not even bothering to pull out a pen and a notepad.

"May I have the....," Lance looked down at the menu and pointed to his item in confirmation, "peanut butter and chocolate pancakes with a-..."

"Our cook went home. Order something else." Keith interrupted.

"What?" Lance asked reflexively.

"I said," Keith paused, closing his eyes, definitely rolling them behind his eyelids, "our cook is not here, please order something else."

"Keith," Allura warned.

"Oh, it's cool..." Lance trailed off. "I'll just have some coffee and toast." Lance folded the glossy menu back up and handed it to the uniformed waiter. Tthe whole place was chrome and glittered from the sputnik lights hanging from the ceiling. He felt eyes on him, but every time he looked over at the professor the waitress, they were minding his own business. Even with the diner being so aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, Lance couldn't help but feel on-edge.

He went to the bathroom to escape a bit. Lance got the feeling as if he was intruding on something private. his coffee and toast were sitting at his place.

the white-haired woman now sat at the counter in between the professor and his seat. The professor was smiling slyly as he said something that made the waiter flustered and Keith slams his palms down in protest. The beautiful woman belted out into laughter that died down around the time Lance got back to his seat and became situated. The trio continued their conversation.

He wanted to learn more about this woman. He couldn't help but be intrigued. However, Lance thought back to his mother and siblings back home. He bit into his toast in an attempt to hold his tongue. He stirred in some cream and a half packet of sugar into his coffee.

He began to focus on what he needed to do once he got back to his apartment. He got a lot of his homework done at the library. It was almost impossible to get anything done in his room. He would have to call it quits and maybe try to read a chapter of the book they'd been assigned in philosophy. Lance didn't even remember why he signed up for the class.

He downed his coffee, burning his mouth. He paid the bill and left two dollars, which was the biggest tip he could afford. And the Cuban boy said goodbye to nobody in particular as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to comment on this work; I absolutely love getting feedback! Your suggestions and critiques are much appreciated!


	2. If These Walls Could Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance battles unprecedented disturbances from unseen forces.

Turns out drinking coffee right before bed is not a stellar idea. Lance's brain was all but bouncing off the walls. he was laying upside down on the couch staring at the television left on static. He was trying to make sense of all of the fuzz swirling around on the screen. If he looked hard enough he could see more than just the black and white fighting. He saw rainbow rings that moved whenever he moved. like oil in a puddle of water reflecting sunlight. It made him dizzy.

What did he even do with his free time before partying? He would help his siblings with their homework, or own them at video games, or hang out with his friends at the little pizza place by the beach.

Lance realized he was probably feeling withdraw from the high social contact of frat parties. He had next to no friends outside of partying. He used to have so many friends, he could hardly keep track of all of his social events. Nowadays, his roommate, Hunk, was his primary friend, always had been. Lance rarely ever saw Hunk anymore. He didn’t notice the space between them when he was preoccupied with his nighttime activities. It never used to be this way, and they swore it wouldn’t become like this, they used to have dinner every Sunday night (which was too risky to go out partying). But now Hunk was too busy and broke to cook every day.

Lance tried to sit up when he heard the click of the door unlocking, but he fell over and all of the blood from his head made it impossible for him to get up.

A handsome and large Samoan man entered holding keys in one hand and the door with the other along with a rather breathtaking man with long pale hair and a scarred stripe across the right side of his jaw. And there Lance was, lying face-down on the floor, with the television set on a station that doesn't exist. All alone on a late Friday night. "Uh," Hunk began, "Lance, buddy, what are you uh..." the burly man came closer. "What are you doing?"

"Mourning." Lance's voice was muffled by the rug. He didn't remember the last time they vacuumed. What Lance was sure of was that Hunk and Matt thought he was an idiot.

Hunk crouched down to his level. "Morning? What? Lance, it's barely midnight"

"No, I am mourning my social life."

Hunk sucked in a breath through his teeth. " _Ooooh_ , you're still doing the whole cold-turkey thing?"

Lance groaned into the rug. Hunk squatted down and pet his head. "Do you want a snack? A drink?"

"No," Lance laid his head on his side, "already ate."

"Okay well, Matt and I are going to get to work on our projects." Hunk patted him skittishly on the head one more time before shutting off the television. "Try to get some sleep. hang in there, buddy."

Matt Holt, also his roommate, was in the mechanical engineering program with Hunk. He was older than the two of them, but Hunk was really close to him. He was overall a fun guy to be around, you wouldn't even guess he was older. Lately, none of them had gotten to hang out much anymore outside of the little projects Hunk and Matt would work on. 

Lance _tried_ to sleep, he really did, but he ended up staring at his dark ceiling for hours, unable to get Café Altea. By five thirty, Lance shifted around in his bed for about the twentieth time and gave up. The freshman pulled on a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt.

Lucky for him, the gym on campus was free of charge for students. Lance needed to get back in shape. A whole semester of hardcore partying had not been kind to him, he had been too hungover to work out and he had to focus on rebuilding his muscle. He filled up his water bottle and headed out to the gym. The walk there was chilly and the grounds were foggy and cool. Lance could see his own breath puffing up in front of him. it was March! Why couldn't it warm up already?

A small, involuntary tremor made its way through Lance's body as he scanned his student ID card and pulled the door open. He was the only one there besides some beefy body building girl in the corner.

He was antsy and restless, the best way to tire him out would be running. Sure, there were jogging paths all around campus, but Lance would be crazy to be running around in the mist. That was the hallmark of a dumb horror movie character if he'd ever heard of one.

He started up a treadmill on the full incline and a steady pace. There were huge windows looking out to the foggy path snaking its way over the smooth, hilly campus. Every five minutes he picked up some slack and boosted the speed. He was working up quite a sweat and peeled off his sweatshirt. Lance took a moment to adjust the speed before looking out the window again, his upbeat Beyoncé music the only sound.

When he looked up, he saw a figure jogging right towards the window. Lance, jittery in his early morning haze, tripped and fell onto the treadmill. He was flung off and landed on the floor, just a hair away from bashing his head into the Bowflex machine. He heard a clatter and his head thumped to the ground, facing the window as a black flash ran past. His earbuds lay on the floor, still blasting Lemonade.

"Are you alright? Are you unharmed?" A voice called out, he was being lifted above the ground and into the sweaty lap of the weightlifting girl. "You are bleeding!" She cried.

At any other time, Lance would be worrying about whether or not this gushing scrape would leave a scar on his flawless complexion, but now, for some reason, he could only think about coffee and toast and the little diner from the night before.

Hunk had to come by the infirmary later and pick up Lance. Even though he was technically okay, the nurse still preferred a friend helping him safely back to his apartment. Of course, he was a bit upset that his sleep was disturbed, but c'mon, this was his _best friend._ Not to mention, the whole ordeal was good for a laugh.

Lance did _not_ appreciate it.

He couldn't even laugh it off as he normally would. Naturally, the only thing he could think of was " _Why was someone running in the fog like some whacko serial killer_ ".

His hip had a huge bruise on it, he couldn't even bear to look at himself in the mirror. Normally he would admire himself. Now, every time he saw it, it was a mark signifying his embarrassment and every time he saw it left him an angry, blushing mess.

It wasn't his fault, it was the fault of whoever decided it was a good fucking idea to run around in the fog at six thirty in the morning. As if the humiliation in the morning hadn’t been enough, Lance had to withstand another round of embarrassment when Hunk retold the whole ordeal to Matt, who howled in laughter.

The rest of the morning was relatively quiet. Lance finished up his homework and was looking up philosophy youtube videos so he wouldn’t fail his quiz on Tuesday. Matt was on a video call with his younger sibling, just yaking it up about how a new species of bacteria was discovered on the latest polar research expedition. Hunk was in the kitchen experimenting with a new dish. It was just like when they first came to school. The nights on the weekends were for parties, and the daytime was for nursing hangovers, but Sunday nights were for ‘family’ dinners. Either Hunk would cook or they would explore a new restaurant in the area. Technically it was Saturday, but a rare day where none of the boys were particularly busy? It might as well have been.

It smelled like nostalgia. It reminded him of the first month of college when they were all so full of life and hope.

They all sat down together and shared a meal of chicken piccata and sparkling apple cider in the cheap wine glasses they bought from dollar tree.

“Bro, what are these sour little grape things?” Matt asked.

“Capers.” Hunk replied.

Matt stuck his tongue out in distaste.

“Oh c’mon! I thought you’re supposed to be _Italian_!” Lance teased, jabbing his fork in the general direction of Matt while holding up his wineglass pretentiously.

“At least I know how to properly hold a wine glass.” Matt countered, pinching the stem of the wine glass and swirled it a bit before taking a swig.

Hunk sighed as the bantering continued for a few more minutes (the discourse concentrated mainly on how to properly hold a wine glass), escalating in volume with each retort. One of the neighbors was pounding on the walls and complaining that they have an essay to finish.

Soon, Hunk had enough. He mustered up his most assertive mom tone and all of his anger as he planted his fists on the tabletop and all but growled at his roommates.“That’s it! You’re both getting sippy cups since obviously neither of you can handle adult tableware!” He burst out, silencing the two bickering boys until none of them could hold a straight face any longer and they shared a round of laughter. The rest of the meal was much more tame in comparison. And for a little while, it seemed like old times. “

Thank the gods.” Lance heard a muffled voice and a door closed from the other side of the wall as he laid on his bed, swiping through social media. Apartment Thirteen B was on the other side of his bedroom wall. On a rare occasion he would hear a bump or a thud, but other than that, no signs of life. After a whole semester, he still had never seen his neighbor. But then again, how often was he home and sober on a Saturday night?

“Hey babe, you wait long?” A woman’s voice purred.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how many people actually visit the library until you work there.” Another woman laughed, followed by a long pause.

“I can’t believe your boyfriend doesn’t mind.” The first voice said.

“Mind?” The other voice asked breathily. “Oh please! He practically pushed me out the door.”

“Well, it’s a real _shame_ he couldn’t make it.” Another long pause. “But now I get to spend more time with you, which I can’t say I _haven’t_ thought about at all.”

Lance should’ve blocked out what they were saying after the first sentence, but when the walls are as soundproof as two-ply toilet paper, it’s easier said than done. He put on his headphones and blast Beyoncé as high as it could go before storming out of his room flushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to comment on this work; I absolutely love getting feedback! Once again, your suggestions and critiques are much appreciated!


	3. And They Were Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's classes and neighbor have him stressed out, little does he know a certain someone is going to shake up his life for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School starts tomorrow so I decided to put out this chapter early because I have no clue when I am gonna be able to edit this chapter otherwise. (and a bunch of other reasons you don't care about)
> 
> Anyways, in case of any confusion, the italics in quotes are how I format what people are thinking. Lance isn't saying any of that stuff out loud (unless only one or a few words have been italicized for emphasis).
> 
> Once again, your comments mean so much to me, I am very eager for your feedback!!

 Lance did all he could to stay afloat in philosophy class. Half of the time he could’ve sworn the professor made up words. Like he was from some sort of alien country and had his own measurements of time and distance. Certainly, that would have made more sense to him than anything the professor said in class.

Each time he looked back at his notes, his mind became more and more muddied. _“What the ever-loving shit is a_ weblum _?”_

He groaned quietly, slamming his face into his notebook. His stomach grumbled in response. _“I guess it’s time to eat.”_

He gathered his things and exited the library he wasn’t looking forward to going back home. He wasn’t sure exactly who lived in apartment thirteen b, but ever since the other night he would hear noises. _Inhuman noises_. Different voices saying different things, calling out a different name each night. Sometimes there were cries, other times there was howling laughter. Lance wasn’t sure if someone rented the apartment as their home or if it were some sort of communal love nest of sorts. If it had been a few months prior, he would have been all in. However, this uptake in activity made it hard for Lance to sleep.

He recently had gotten a philosophy assignment returned with a C+. It was a good grade, much better than he had anticipated. It didn’t hurt enough for him to bring his grade down. He was afraid he would need a tutor if he was going to pass the class. It was odd, he seemed to be the only one having trouble in the class. Everyone he asked urged Lance to approach the laid-back professor for help, but Lance didn’t know how to ask Professor Coran for help.

He ended up back in Café Altea, which was becoming his usual hang out over the past month. He sat at the bar and splurged by ordering the peanut butter pancakes. He devoured the short stack quickly and was content. The owner, Allura, came over to him and refilled his coffee mug with a customer service smile.

Lance looked down at the cream as it swirled around the rich coffee in a wispy tornado. His mind was elsewhere. Even with his body planted on the barstool in Cafe Altea, his thoughts seemed to exist on a different plane. He had no conception of how long he was sitting there, but it was long enough for the heat to drain from the ceramic mug and for the cream and coffee to meld into one even color. When he finally noticed the world around him, the hilly college town was awash with dusty greys and powdery black-blues.

Patrons had come and gone, but he remained. Lance noticed the busboy/waiter, Keith. Keith was wordlessly polishing the acrylic tabletops of vacant booths. Much to Lance’s surprise, the mullet-haired man was humming. So Lance sat there for a while, entranced, watching the muscles flexing in his arms and the subtle way his throat vibrated as he hummed. Keith abruptly turned around, facing the bar once again. He caught Lance in the act of staring at him. The tan boy was mesmerized, his cheek leaned nonchalantly in his palm.

After being shot a confused look by the waiter, Lance retracted his hand and sat upright, swiveling back to face the rectangular window into the kitchen. His face was very hot, but his coffee was cold.

March was warming up, the fog wasn’t so bad when he woke up in the morning. He never realized how much of a morning person he really was until he wasn’t too hungover to enjoy it. It was calming and surreal to be awake while everyone was asleep on campus.

He would run into Shay (the bodybuilder that carried him to the nurse) at the gym and they would exchange a smile. He would go to the cafeteria early and eat a healthy breakfast before taking a shower and maybe if he had time, he could get some studying in before class.

Most of his grades had improved significantly since his no-partying pact began. However, philosophy just stagnated. He was still trying to figure out how he was going to remedy that whole situation without going to the professor.

In the meantime, he was just getting into the swing of this new routine when Matt announced at their newly reinstated family dinner that Pidge, his sibling, would be coming to stay for a bit while his father and mother celebrated their anniversary.

That Sunday, Matt came back from his parent’s house in the suburbs with a beat up minivan and his fluffy-haired sibling. “This is Pidge,” he introduced, placing a heavy hand on their head. Pidge gave a polite smile and readjusted their bag over their shoulder.

“Nice to meet ya’ I’m Hunk.” The cheerful man waved a mitted hand as he pulled a pizza out of the oven.

Lance was humming as he slid his garlic knots in the oven. It almost smelled like home. _Almost_. He set a timer and began stirring the melted butter in with salt and garlic. “And this,” Matt began, pointing at him, “is Lance, the other one.”

“What do you mean the ‘other one’?” He demanded poutily, putting his hands on his hips and turning to his older roommate.

He was ignored and Matt turned his attention to the living room. “You can sleep on the sofa.” Matt continued to show his sibling around the house. Lance continued sulking until his garlic knots were ready. He used a basting brush to spread garlic butter on them before setting them out on the table next to the salad. “Dinner!” Hunk called, pouring Mountain Dew into the Dollar Tree wine glasses, (which was as close to fancy that they could afford on their budget).

The kitchen table was nothing more than an Ikea table meant for two but with three chairs and one folding chair set at it, however, it was covered with homemade food and in their starving college kid eyes, it rivaled a banquet table. And they ate, and they laughed, and for a while, they forgot about life. Sure to be one of their favorite college memories.


	4. Do You Actually Have a Life?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance vents to his new friend. Discourse over five-hour energy ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, it's nice to see people are reading my work. This is my first Voltron fic and I have actually been trying to write this since March of 2018.  
> It would mean the world to me if y'all would continue to give me suggestions and comment on my work!

That night, as usual, Lance avoided his bedroom. He just wanted a night where he didn’t have to listen to _that_.

So of course, where did he go? Café Altea.

And what, exactly, was he doing there? Making a fool of himself, as per usual.

He had himself sat at a bar, watching the normal busboy/waiter dismantle a toaster with a screwdriver as if it were as fascinating as prime time TV.

“What has that poor household appliance ever done to you?” Lance asked.

“Why do you always come here at this time of night? Got nothing better to do?” Keith wiped some sweat off his brow before digging the screwdriver back into the contraption.

“Umm would you believe it if I said it’s the pancakes and excellent service?” Lance said, unconvincingly.

“Definitely not.” The waiter answered bluntly.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Why not? You a serial killer trying to build an alibi or somethin’?” Keith rattled the toaster.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Not really, but it’s more comfortable than you just staring at me all weird.”

“Well, I…” Lance trailed off, unsure of how to exactly phrase the situation. “You see, the apartment next to mine has been thought to be vacant for as long as I can remember.” Lance paused to take a sip of his milkshake as he thought about where to go next.

“But?” Keith asked, unscrewing something.

“Well I don’t know who my neighbor is, but their bedroom is right next to mine and they are so... _loud_.”

“Loud how?” Keith looked up. “Like blasting Ozzy Osbourne at eight in the morning, or like night terrors loud?”

“It’s _worse_.” Lance buried his face in his hands. “Sometimes they scream, sometimes they sound happy. Sometimes it’s vulgar, other times sweet.” He groaned.

“So.. you’re implying that you come to this Cafe all the time because your neighbor is a suspected nymphomaniac?” Keith asked, finally getting the bottom door of the toaster to pop open, fishing out an overly crispy, brown poptart.

“Basically?” Lance shrugged his shoulders.

“Cool.” Keith said, only half amused.

“Well, what about you?” Lance asked. Keith shot him a puzzled look. “Why are you always working?”

“I need the money and I have the time?” Keith replied as if it were obvious.

“I just assumed you were in college.” Keith shut the door to the toaster and turned around to put the appliance back in its place.

“I am,” he clarified, “unofficially, it’s a gap year”. Lance nodded his head in understanding. “

What’s your major?” Lance took the pretzel rod out of his salted caramel milkshake and took a chomp out of it.

“Undecided.” Keith pulled out a rag and dutifully swept away the toaster crumbs. He looked at the few tiny crumbs that come, inevitably, with every order of a salted caramel milkshake. He was slightly annoyed, but it only showed on his face for a moment.

“What even _is_ college?” Lance sighed.

Keith raised a single eyebrow at him before leaning against the back counter.

“You pay a shit ton of money, get into debt, buy some textbooks, sell your soul, and then what?” Lance asked. “After four years of 5-hour energy laced coffees, you get a piece of paper that says you learned?” Keith didn’t respond. This was a mistake because now his customer took that as an invitation to continue his early morning rant. “And then we will leave with a sheet of paper and massive student loans, and then in ten years or whatever, when we finally stop paying off the debt, the college is gonna send us letters asking us to donate money?!”

“I mean…” Keith had no idea what to say. He half felt like he was having a conversation with a complete lunatic. An existential lunatic, at that.

Keith noticed the bags under his customer’s eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. But so did every other college student. There was no way Keith would know that Lance hadn’t always been this way.

Lance took a frustrated gulp of his milkshake and swiped his tongue over his lips. Keith was still studying this tired, frustrated boy.

* * *

 

“Keith, you can go home now, thanks for working overti-“ the beautiful owner of the cafe paused in the middle of tying on her apron, “who is this?”

The white-haired woman was most astounded to see not only her employee but a customer arguing across the counter. It was nearly five in the morning.

“There’s no way, that doesn’t make any sense! The drink goes in increments of five! Each drink would be plus five more hours of energy!” Keith barked, getting up in Lance’s face.

“It would definitely be twice the energy in five hours!” Lance said, being just as aggressive. Their foreheads were touching and so were their noses. Lance could feel Keith’s breath on his own mouth.

“Seriously you two,” Allura sighed, pulling Keith back by his collar. “Your shift is over.” Lance straightened himself up, Allura turned to him.

“Just what were you two bickering about?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Uuuh..” Lance stuttered. “Whether drinking two five hour energys would give you twice the energy in five hours or ten hours of energy.” He said a little sheepishly.

“I think it would be more likely that it would send you into cardiac arrest.” She replied.

“Now,” she said turning to Keith, “go home and get some rest, you have been working for eighteen straight hours.” “

Alright. See ya’, uhm… Lance?” Lance snapped to realization.

“Yeah.”

“And _you_ ,” she began, turning to lance and poking his chest with an accusatory finger, “thank you for keeping Keith company while he was working”. Her face went soft and appreciative. “I haven’t seen him that engaged in conversation in ages. Lance, right?”

“Yeah.” He responded a bit bashfully. The lady had said his name, but with her accent, it sounded more like ‘Lonce’ than ‘Lance’.

“Now go home and get some sleep.” She said kindly.

And at five thirty in the morning, he did just that.


	5. Daydream Next Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance enters the lioness' den.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I wrote most of this chapter on only three hours of sleep. Senior year is great.  
> As always, your comments and feedback are encouraged.

 Lance was at a loss. While the day had started out promising, Lance had somehow managed to lose both his philosophy notebook and his house key.

He couldn’t depend on Hunk or Matt to come let him in since they were out at the Mechanical Engineering building giving Pidge the grand tour of the labs and such their workspace. There was no way they would be back within the next three hours.

So lance sat leaned against door 12B and fidgeted with his cell phone. _“At least the wifi works,_ ” Lance thought. After about a half hour, when his phone battery dipped down to 25%, he slipped it into his pocket and sighed. He began to count the number of ceiling lights sunken into the ceiling in the hallway (there were eighteen). Just when he was about to move on to counting the number of wooden panels in the floor, Lance heard footsteps clamoring up the stairs. Lance looked towards the direction of the stairwell. Being a fairly friendly guy, he knew most everybody in the apartment complex. Most of them were young college students, so maybe one of them would laugh at his situation and let him crash at their place until his roommates returned.

However, this was someone he didn’t at all recognize. They weren’t bland enough for Lance to just have forgotten them. Especially not a beautiful girl like her. He crossed out the possibility that she had recently moved in, but maybe she was the friend of one of his neighbors.

Her hair was this wonderful wavy lavender color that reminded Lance of fairy floss. Her body was short and rounded and her skin was the color of tea with cream, freckles were sprinkles over most of her visible skin. Her curvy legs were clad in knee-high cat stockings and converse, she wore a cropped pastel yellow daisy sweater over a high waisted black skirt, and there was a green ribbon tied around her wrist. Lance watched her walk. He watched her walk right past him without making eye contact. He watched her stand in front of apartment thirteen b.

* * *

 

Until about a month ago, Lance didn’t even know anybody lived in thirteen b. But there she was, humming a cute little tune as she shuffled through her keys and jingled one into the door without even acknowledging her neighbor sitting on the floor.

 _‘Something doesn’t add up,’_ Lance thought. _‘How could someone so small and cute make so much noise?’_ *

* * *

 Somewhere along the line, Lance fell asleep. His hood drawn up, even in his sleep he was beautiful. A door opened and slammed next to him. He shuddered back to consciousness. The sound of ice clinking in a glass and fabric sliding against the wall made him turn his head left. The same girl that he had seen entering thirteen b was sitting next to him on the dusty hallway floor.

He saw her face clearly for the first time. She had cat eyeliner and vivid green cat eyes that must have been contacts. She gave him a Cheshire-like grin and nudged him with her elbow as if he wasn’t already giving her his undivided attention.

It was very odd, she took a long gulp of her tea. He looked down at her feet, which were now clad in panda bear slippers. The whole experience was just steps away from bizarre. Yet, here she was, sitting next to a perfect stranger.

Lance did not want to trust this girl, neighbor or not. As cute as she was, he couldn’t help but think of those noises every time he looked at her face.

“You’re Lance, right?” She asked. Her voice was smooth and sleepy. “Lance McClain?” She practically purred his name.

He was taken aback, “How did you..?”

“The walls.” She gestured nonchalantly, ice clinking in her glass. “Plus one night you seemed to have gotten absolutely knackered and slipped autographed headshots under everyone’s door.” Apparently the sound of ice sliding around in her drink reminded her of its presence and she took another sip.

He was a blackout drunk, he didn’t remember anything like that. At the same time the prospect of him sending out headshots to all of his neighbors was one of the more tame activities out of his drunken shenanigans.

“I’m Fauna,” she stretched out her free hand, “I’m an art major,” Lance observed her hand before gingerly taking it in his own and giving it a quick pump or two.

“Anyways,” she retracted her hand and pushed a section of pastel coils out of her face. “You got locked out?”

“Yeah,” Lance stated the obvious.

“M’kay, at first I thought you might just like hanging out in hallways.” She stood up without pushing herself up with her hands or even spilling a drop of her tea. “Well then.” She was way more coordinated and balanced than he originally thought.

Lance looked up at her, her crop top was loose and he could kinda see all the way up her shirt with how close she was standing. She turned on her heel and began to unlock the door before he could decide on whether or not looking up his cute neighbor’s shirt wasn’t the route he wanted to go down.

She opened the door and turned back to him, “Are you going to come in?”

And for some fucking reason, he did.

* * *

Her apartment was so much nicer than his. It looked like one of those professionally staged dorm rooms from a bohemian decor catalog.

The living room space was artfully decorated with thin tapestries and wicker furniture with white cushions. There were round cushions situated on a worn, faded Persian rug. It was way too well put together for any college student.

“Wow,” Lance commented involuntarily.

“Make yourself at home I guess, nobody’s used the living room for quite some time.” Fauna purred, making her way to the kitchen. He sat down on the sofa and let his eyes wander around the apartment. She came back with two spiked lemonades, a paper towel, and a bag of Takis.

“Oh, I don’t drink,” Lance put his hands up in front of him when she nudged the bottle out to him. "at least, I try not to anymore."

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to give you.” She set the drinks down on the coffee table and twirled one of her curls, deeply in thought. “There’s almond milk or tap water?” Her nose scrunched up, making her freckles dance.

“Water’d be fine.” Lance smiled tensely.

“So, why’d you get locked out?” She asked after returning with his water, she sat on the opposite end of the couch, twisted off the cap of her drink in a snap, and drew one leg up to her chest.

Lance explained his dilemma.

“You didn't happen to study in the Library of Lions today, did you?” She inquired, taking a long sip of her lemonade while awaiting his response.

“I study there every day.”

“Oh, I have a lady friend that works there, I will have her keep her eyes peeled for your key then.” Lance blushed, remembering hearing the conversation through the wall a while back.

“More than that,” Lance jolted to realization, “I left my philosophy notebook, I don’t know if I lost it at the same time as my key, but I really need it.” “

You got it.” Fauna balanced the bottle between her knee and her chin as she typed something out on her phone. Lance was a bit worried that it would slip and spill all over her and her bright white couch. “And... sent.” She grabbed the glass bottle again, her rings clinking against it. “She should be here sometime tomorrow morning, I will let you know if she has it, what’s your number?” This time, Fauna set her lemonade on the glass-topped wicker coffee table.

The two of them switched phones and exchanged numbers. In the meantime, Lance made a mental note to borrow Hunk’s noise-canceling headphones later.

* * *

L ance eased up after about an hour and half of talking and eating Takis. He and Fauna talked about nothing in particular. They talked about everything and nothing. After a while, Lance forgot why he was ever on guard around her, to begin with. They weren’t friends, but talking to her was deceptively like talking to an old friend he hadn’t seen in a while. Like picking up where they left off.

There were keys jingling in the hallway and loud voices talking excitedly and rushed as if there would be no time to talk later. “Lance?” They heard through the paper thin walls. “Where is he?”

Fauna nodded at him, her purple coils bounced along with her. She walked him to the door and suddenly it felt awkward to say goodbye. She smiled, almost knowingly. “See ya’ around, Lance.” Fauna closed the door to apartment thirteen b.


	6. To Yeet, or Not to Yeet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ladies in Lance's life give him a few surprises while Keith gives him a golden opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! It's Halloween, my favorite holiday. Therefore, this is an additional update this month! I actually have been writing a lot this month. 
> 
> Anyways, I'll let y'all get to reading, and as always, don't forget to comment lots and lots of feedback!

Two young men shrieked.

“ _What_?” Pidge asked, shrugging their shoulders, slithering off of the floor and onto the seat. “I wanted a blizzard.”

Matt had started driving as soon as he realized who it was. Lance gathered his thoughts. “Dude! Not cool!”

“It was kinda funny hearing you scream like a girl.”

“ _You_ scream like a girl.”

“I _am_ a girl.”

“Touché- wait, what?!”

“What?”

“You’re a girl?”

“Biologically.”

“Oh,” Lance said, dumbstruck.

“You didn’t know?” Matt asked, amusement in his voice, he glanced back in the rear view mirror and caught a glimpse of his younger sister’s unamused face. You could tell she had conversations like this on a regular basis.

“Not really?” Lance almost asked it. “I guess it didn’t cross my mind.” He scratched his head. “I try not to think too much into stuff like that.”

“Anyways, it doesn’t matter really.”

“Oh.”

“Awkward.” Matt sucked in a breath.

“Very,” Pidge said back. The rest of the ride to Dairy Queen was silent.

* * *

 “So there I was, barbecue sauce on my tiddies…” Matt said, laying across a beanbag, gesturing with his blizzard spoon. It was one of those rare occasions where none of them had anything to do, so all of Lance’s roommates, and Pidge were chilling in the living room. There was a bowl of air-popped popcorn drizzled with butter and a case of mountain dew in the refrigerator. There was a classic scary movie on and they all would make fun of it in turns. Somewhere along the line, they went off onto talking about all sorts of matters. The latest discourse: iconic vines.

“I happen to really like the vine where the cat is on the hood of the car and they pound the horn and then it turns into careless whisperer.” Hunk said, popping the lid on his can of soda.

“Or the one where the older lady is walking in front of the car with the milk jugs-” Lance began.

“And then they honk the horn and one of them flies out of her hands?” Pidge finished.

“Yeah!”

“Well, I am partial to the one whe-...”

There was a knock at the door. The three roommates looked at each other before putting their fingers up to their noses. “Nose goes!” They shouted.

“Matt, it was you!” Lance exclaimed, his finger still pressed to the tip of his nose.

“Katie…?” Matt gave her puppy dog eyes.

“No way, I don’t even live here.” To prove her will, she curled up further in her big chair and shoveled a spoonful of peanut butter blizzard into her mouth.

“Fine.” Matt groaned, dragging himself to the door at a snail’s pace. Matt secretly hoped whoever it was would be long gone by the time he got to the door. Much to his astonishment, the person was not only still there, but it was a very beautiful woman dressed in a slinky black nightgown with messy purple sex hair. Her nightgown clung to her overall round and soft curves.

“Is Lance here?” She was dangling a boutique bag from her manicured finger, he voice was sleepy and alluring. She looked bored.

“Lance,” Matt opened the door a bit wider so that everyone else could see her, “it’s for you.” This resulted in a round of “oohs” from Hunk and Pidge, causing Lance to blush.

“I will be out in a second.” Lance kicked off the blanket and surrendered his prime real estate seating on the couch to Hunk.

“She found your notebook and keys on the front steps last night when she was leaving, thankfully it wasn’t raining too hard by then, so I think most of your notes are good.” Fauna passed the bag over to lance. Without those cat contacts, her eyes were a deep, seductive brown. There were no flecks of gold or anything, just a warm dark chocolate.

Lance snapped out of it, he flipped through his notebook hurriedly, only a few pages were smudged, and only one page was ruined entirely. It would be difficult to replace the notes.

Fauna had already opened the door to her apartment and closed the door by the time Lance said thank you.

* * *

 Ever since that one bizarre night, Keith and Lance seemed to talk on a nearly daily basis. But only inside of Cafe Altea. They never exchanged phone numbers or anything too intimate about themselves. It was a casual relationship that couldn’t be called friends, but they were so much more than strangers. Whatever they were, that nameless relationship, for the time being,  only existed within the walls of Café Altea.

Lance ordered a coffee and sat at the bar on the stool that had somehow become “his seat”. He waited for Keith to wipe down a portion of the counter where the previous customer had sat. Lance poured some cream into his coffee and waited for Keith to return back to his place. When Keith was, once again, leaning against the counter on the opposite side of Lance, he began to speak.

“So I finally met my neighbor the other day.” Lance began with the air of one of those gossiping ladies at church.

“Oh really,” Keith smirked, “what were they like?”

“Surprisingly cute.” Lance smiled a bit. “You wouldn’t expect her to make so much noise, that’s for sure.”

“It’s a girl?” Keith inquired.

“Yeah.” Lance gestured with his hands when he spoke. “Anyways, she’s got this thing with the student worker at the Library, so when I told her about losing my keys and notebook, she got her lady friend to pick it up for her.”

“Wow, that’s pretty nice of her to do for a stranger.”

“I know, right?” Lance took a sip of his coffee. “She even let me stay at her place until my roommates came back home.”

“So, now that you know her, does that change anything?”

“Maybe, not really, I mean it’s just a face to the noise.” Lance sighed. “I couldn’t really confront her about it, and even if I had, I doubt she would care.”

Lance looked up at the ceiling as if the words to describe her were molded into the tin. “She is really weird, her hair is purple. She’s chubby, but there is no shame in the way she carries herself. She’s confident, but she’s so relaxed, it’s effortless.”

“Sounds like you have quite the crush,” Keith said gravely, but a weird sort of smile played on his lips.

“It’s not like that at all.” Lance blushed, unsure of why he felt the need to explain himself to Keith. “Like yeah she’s hot, but I don’t feel anything for her?” He added almost frantically.

“Chill, dude. I was just messing with you.” He laughed, “No need to get so hot and bothered.” Lance blushed even harder.

* * *

Later that evening, Lance was doing his homework in the café. He was doing his best to rewrite the pages lost from his philosophy notebook. “I don’t understand this at all!” Lance tore his hands through his hair. It was an earlier class that he had taken back in his partying days (though that was only a few months prior). He didn’t remember anything. Not a single thing.

“What are you working on?” Keith asked, leaning against the counter again. He had been cleaning off the tops of the condiment bottles for the past twenty minutes. Keith even went so far as to scrub the jelly packets so they wouldn’t be sticky. “You know how I said that my notebook was left in the rain?” Keith nodded, rubbing a damp rag along the nozzle of the mustard bottle.

“Well, some of my notes that were in pen got blurry. The thing is, I don’t remember them at all.”

“Professor. Coran’s class?” Keith walked over to the sink and rinsed out his rag. “Because I could lend you my freshman notes.”

“Really?!” Lance asked, suddenly perked up. “Yeah, I have no use for them.” He wrung out the rag, “I don’t know how much good they’ll do you though.” “Thanks!” Lance hurriedly packed his stuff away, “I will see you tomorrow!” He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked hurriedly out into the night.

“Great,” Keith muttered under his breath when the bell above the door stopped ringing. _'What am I supposed to do the rest of the night?_ ' He thought as he slumped on to the counter.


	7. The Bitch Is Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance does his best to be a good boy while he gets back in the swing of things.

When Colleen and Samuel Holt came back to pick up their daughter, she had made herself scarce. She wanted, more than anything, to continue living with her brother and his roommates, even if that meant sleeping on a blow-up mattress on the living room floor for another month or two. Her school was only a quarter mile from the college campus, Pidge argued that she would wake up on time and walk to school every day, but Colleen was adamant. Somehow or another, they managed to coax Pidge into packing up her stuff and loading it into the beat-up car out front. She waved goodbye to her brother and his roommates from the backseat of the car.

When the three boys got back into their apartment, they looked at the corner of the living room where Pidge had stayed. The blow-up mattress had been deflated and folded up. All of her paraphernalia was no longer strewn about the place. It almost looked too clean to be their apartment. It was mildly depressing, even though Pidge had only been there for a week and a half. The three of them felt uncomfortable, out of place. Hunk headed out to pick up some groceries, and Matt mumbled something about Professor Shiro’s arm before heading out the door.

Lance could only think of one place to go at a time like this.

* * *

 

Keith’s face lit up when He saw Lance running past the window. He made the smile scarce when the boy actually entered the café. Though, this didn’t go unnoticed by Allura. She exchanged a look with Keith, winking at him. Keith rolled his eyes at his boss as he set a cup in a saucer with a clatter. He waited behind the counter with the pot of freshly brewed coffee raised over the mug.

“Hey,” Lance greeted, scooting into his stool, immensely pleased to see hot coffee already set in front of him.

“Hey Lance, how are the notes working out for you?” Keith set the pot back in the coffee maker and produced a bowl of creamers from under the counter and set it on the acrylic countertop next to Lance’s coffee mug.

“They’re great,” He tore open the top of one of the creamers and poured the milk in. “You can really tell that you understood what you were writing.”

Keith blushed a bit, as a dropout, he wasn’t used to being complimented on his intelligence. “Thanks.”

Lance shared his daily updates about Pidge leaving and such. Keith never shared much about his personal life, but he liked to listen to Lance as he worked.

The sun dipped behind the buildings and everything was red. The neon on the outside of the diner flickered on. It was a Tuesday night, Keith doubted anyone would come in. Lance was over in the corner, flipping through the records on the jukebox. He selected a song after a few minutes, the machine whirred back to life.

“ _I was justified when I was five, rasin’ Cain, I spit in your eye_ ,” Keith snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Lance mock pouted. “I didn’t expect you to like Elton John.”

“I _’m a bitch, I’m a bitch oh, the bitch is back._ ” The record machine chanted. 

Lance shrugged his shoulders. “ I liked the title.”

Keith hummed along as he wiped off tables. Again, Lance watched the muscles in his arm contract and extend. This time it wasn’t awkward. There was a quiet awareness of the two. Keith knew Lance was watching him, and Lance knew that Keith could tell he was watching him.

They stayed like that for the duration of the song.

* * *

 The following day, Lance exited his apartment early in the morning, on his way to the gym. It was his new routine to wake up early in the morning and hit the gym. Routines were good. Routines were healthy.

However, Lance was not early enough to not run into the man who was leaving Fauna’s apartment. His hair was carelessly swooped to one side, not with the same nonchalant air of Fauna. He obviously was self-conscious about having to do the walk of shame.

Lance couldn’t help but let the corner of his mouth curl up. He put his headphones on and walked towards the stairwell.

He jogged to the gym, and when he arrived, he avoided the treadmill. Shay, the nice bodybuilder, was there too. She waved to him before starting her next set of sit-ups

. He turned his volume up and stepped onto the elliptical. The spring fogs were burning off more and more quickly as of late. There was still a bit of mist curled about the floor-to-ceiling windows. They were one-way windows, of course. Nobody could see into the gym, but Lance could see a black figure speeding along the hilly paths. It reminded him of the last time he was on the treadmill. The figure came closer, and closer. Lance recognized that figure all dressed in a black hoodie and sweatpants. It was Keith from Café Altea!

He pushed his feet along the elliptical, picking up a nice pace. It made him think, was it Keith who had run into the window the first time he had come to the gym?

Certainly not. Keith worked nearly all hours of the day, He should have been sleeping at this time of the morning. He pushed the thought out of his mind and continued the last few minutes of his elliptical time before stopping to wipe off the sweat off his brow. He slugged down some water. He looked out the windows once more, the figure had jogged out too far into the distance for him to recognize anymore. Keith was swallowed into the mist.

* * *

Lance was working hard at creating a master study guide for one of his classes in the Library of Lions (commonly referred to as simply ‘The Ls’ by students) when his cell phone chirped with alarming volume. He quickly scanned his surroundings. Nobody had turned their head to him. The two other students in that portion of the library had earbuds in, so they didn’t notice.

Fauna: Hey I am going out tonight, but my date canceled u wanna come ?????

Lance entertained the idea for a moment, but going out meant alcohol. Lance wasn’t sure how comfortable he was around alcohol. Or how good his restraint was.

Lance: Maybe another time Lance: I have to study lol

‘ _Lol_ , _really_?’ Lance thought, ‘ _lame_ ’.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for continuing to read my story. Remember, critiques and comments are always welcome!


	8. Good News and Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is at the home stretch of his freshman year of college, but naturally, more troubles arise. At least he won't be facing them alone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everybody! i can not believe that voltron is ending on friday! it's been over a year since i started watching, and nearly a year since i started coming up with ideas for this fic! i hope you guys continue to support me in the future with this work. 
> 
> this chapter is a bit short and kinda chopped up into separate bits, please bear with me. 
> 
> anyways, i will probably update extra chapters this month for the holidays. please make sure to leave some love and comment any critiques and praise. i really appreciate your feedback!

It was nearly final exams. To say that Keith’s notes saved Lance’s grade was an understatement. He spent more time in the Library of Lions in those last few weeks than he did at Café Altea and his apartment combined. In fact, he was so busy that he didn’t register that soon enough, he would be home and working for the summer.

Matt and Hunk would go to their respective homes, Fauna would do whatever it was Fauna did, and Keith would probably still be working at the café all summer. Nothing had been said verbally, but Lance and his roommates silently agreed to room together the next year. In just a matter of days, Lance would have to face the fact that his freshman year of college was over. He would pack all of his things into boxes and go home. But for now, Lance studied.

 

* * *

 

It was Sunday afternoon, so Lance was getting ready to face time his parents. Matt was in the living room, vacantly staring at some of his jumbled up notes while eating mac’n’cheese straight out of the saucepan. Hunk was off somewhere on campus with Shay, the bodybuilding girl from the gym (they had been hanging out a lot since Lance’s accident on the treadmill in March). He cleaned off his bed so that his room looked more presentable and propped his laptop on a pillow. He started the call.

Lance spent nearly a half hour greeting and chatting with each member of his family as they popped up on the screen. Eventually, his mother cut in, clearing her throat. “What do you mean I can’t come home this summer?” Lance cried.

“I’m sorry, we just don’t have enough space right now. Your niece and nephew are going to share your room while their parents go on a cross-country vacation. It’s only temporary until we can consolidate the situation.” His mother said firmly, but you could tell that it was taking everything out of her to keep her feelings under control. “You know we love and miss you, but you can’t keep clinging to us, you’re an adult now!”

Lance let out a sigh, _‘what am I gonna do,’_ he asked himself.

 

* * *

 

Lance studied with less gusto that night. How was he supposed to study if his key motivation, going back home, was gone? He left the Library of Lions feeling unsatisfied and uneasy. _‘Gonna have to go apartment hunting soon. I wonder if the prices are cheaper in the summertime.’_ He went straight back to the apartment, ignoring three texts from Fauna, and about fifty from the roommate groupchat he had with Hunk and Matt.

He climbed up the steps to their floor, made it to the door and was just about to put his keys in the door when the door swung open with a whoosh. Matt poked his head out the doorframe, ignoring awestruck Lance for a moment. He looked to either side, then looked at Lance. Matt grabbed his roommate by the front of his shirt. There was mischief twinkling in his brown eyes. Lance would later not regret opening the groupchat sooner.

 

* * *

 

 

“I am not even mad, but where exactly did you get her from?” Lance said, leaning against the wall, watching Hunk gingerly massage baby shampoo into the cat’s fur.

 

“It was in a box that said ‘free kittens’, it was the last one,” Matt said, handing Hunk a clean, fluffy towel.

 

“It could be sick, did you ever consider why the kittens were left there in the first place?” He asked.

 

“Aww, c’mon Lance,” Hunk said, lifting the cat up in the air Lion King style, “have a heart!”

 

The wet cat meowed at Lance’s face. “I am just saying, that isn’t a kitten, that is a young adult cat at the youngest.”

 

“It’s a beautiful kitty-cat!” Matt sobbed, pulling the orange furball to his chest, to which the startled cat protested. Matt didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Well, we are gonna have to get her vaccinated, are we even allowed to have pets here?” Impatiently, Lance pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“It doesn’t say we can have pets but it doesn’t say we _can’t_ have pets.” Hunk replied, ever the optimistic one. “We already made an appointment with the vet, her name is Clem.”

 

“The vet’s name is Clem?”

 

“No,” Matt clarified, “we named the cat Clem”. He turned to the kitten and gently rubbed her muzzle with the towel, she bit him. “Because she’s a cute wittle clementine, yes you are.” Matt cooed.

 

“Okay well, what will we do with her when you guys go home next month? Will your families be thrilled to see that you’ve brought home a cat?” Lance needed some ibuprofen, he was getting a tension headache.

 

“I have a dog,” Matt said.

 

“My mother is allergic,” Hunk responded.

 

They both looked at Lance. Who sighed, fatigued.

 

“I won’t even be home this summer. Apparently, the house is too crowded, even for me.” He sighed, stepping over a prostrated Matt to get to the medicine cabinet. “Where will you go?” Hunk asked, taken back by the news. “I don’t know. I am going to have to start apartment hunting I guess.” He dry-swallowed the pills. Lance looked down at the cat, his heart melted a bit and he relented. “If I have a pet-friendly apartment that I can afford, then maybe I can keep Clem.”

 

Matt and Hunk fist bumped. “But-.” Lance began, “you two have to send money into my account for food and litter.” Hunk nodded his head.

 

“Hell yeah!” Matt exclaimed.

 

 _‘They’re children.’_ Lance thought.

 

* * *

 

Lance pulled out a newspaper at a booth in Café Altea, his coffee and creamer sat by his left hand. He was circling possible apartments to move into. Most of them didn’t allow pets though. It was three in the morning and Lance had deep purple circles under his eyes like bruises. Only he and Keith were in the café, as usual. There was some lofi Spotify playlist playing over the speakers.

Keith was busying himself by laying on the opposite side of the booth from Lance. He had one knee up and a novel was propped open on his knee. He bit his lip while he concentrated. They had been sitting like that since just before midnight. The stack of local newspapers had run out, there were no apartments that were pet-friendly _and_ affordable.

Lance shuffled the newspaper in frustration before setting it down in the discard pile. He leaned on the table and propped his face up on his hand. Keith was reading ravenously. Lance watched Keith's eyes skip over each line quickly and efficiently. His eyelashes batted twice and his eyes stayed open for a while. Lance looked at the title  _"Fahrenheit 451"._ It brought back breif memories from high school to Lance, until those thoughts drifted away. Lance felt his eyes slide shut and concentrated on the music, Keith's breathing, and taking in the page flipping that happened every once and awhile.

Before he knew it, Lance was asleep.


	9. A Moment You'll Never Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes some pretty bad choices. Not even I know how this will turn out!

“C’mon,” Fauna whined, putting on her brown lipstick neatly as she looked into her compact, “you deserve to have fun!” The compact shut with a snap.

If Lance would have known, he would have never taken her up on her offer.

 

* * *

 

Fauna pulled Lance into some obscure dive bar on the other side of town. Nobody asked for their ID, in fact, there wasn’t a bouncer in sight. Although it didn’t exactly seem like the opportune place for college kids to party, especially during finals.

The brick walls had posters from bands and venues all over the world; some were in languages Lance couldn’t even identify. There was no specific genre all were different and faded. The floor was worn-down wood, smooth from all of the treading. The lighting was low and there was a handful of people sat at the bar.

Lance really should have expected it from the name, ‘Oddman’, but most of the people in the bar were incredibly peculiar. There were people dressed in all sorts of attire, steampunk, regular punk, hipster, trendy. While their numbers were few, the patrons were diverse. It really was full of odd men (and women, of course).

Lance took it all in, Fauna sat him down at a u-shaped booth and went up to the bar for drinks. She brought him back a soda and had herself a mixed drink. Soon enough, a man found his way over to their booth.

He made small talk with Fauna for a while before she finally slid down to let him sit next to her. They talked to each other as if old friends. Every topic that came up had a sense of familiarity. Lance’s eyes wandered about on all of the people in the bar, settling on nobody in particular.

“Can I buy you and your man a drink?” The guy across the table asked, already standing up.

“Sure.” Fauna giggled, she neither clarified that Lance wasn’t her boyfriend nor did she even look at Lance’s direction.

Lance didn’t touch the drink for a while when the man came back. It was no fun to be sober in a bar. He scrolled through his Instagram feed for a while, found his hands wrapped around the glass. Before he knew it, Lance was drinking. _‘One drink won’t kill me.’_ He thought.

And then he was bought another glass. And another. Soon, Lance didn’t bother counting anymore.

 

* * *

 

Lance was very tipsy. Fauna was curled into the man’s lap, drinking out of his glass. Her cheeks were bright and full of life and blood. He whispered something in her ear. Fauna’s cat-like eyes twinkled with something familiar. She giggled at him and took another sip of her drink. “Hey, do you guys wanna go somewhere else?” The man asked, directing the question more at Lance than Fauna. Lance knew that look in his eyes, that tone behind his voice. He had seen and heard it many times before, but rarely ever directed at him from a man. Lust. It made him a little uncomfortable, to say the least.

Lance may have been completely drunk, but he wasn’t wasted enough to not realize that it would be a bad idea. Fauna was his friend, after all. A friend he didn’t know very well, but still a friend. The man gave Lance a few minutes to entertain the idea, but Lance decided against it. He politely declined and nursed his drink while Fauna gathered her jacket and her purse. On the way out, she slipped something onto the table in front of Lance.

“If you don’t want to wake up your roommates, you can crash at my place for the night, there is a spare bedroom. Live a little.” She said breathily, dipping down to whisper in his ear. He could smell the alcohol on her breath, sickly and sweet.

“Okay, be safe,” he slurred as she sauntered away, latched onto the man’s arm. Fauna didn’t need Lance to watch out for her, she was almost more responsible as a drunk than Lance was when he was sober.

 

* * *

 

After several more drinks, Lance was ready to head out the door when he spied a familiar figure sitting at the bar. It was surreal to see Keith outside of Café Altea. As if the only place he could exist was behind the counter, serving coffee.

Lance thought about the mist too, but that was entirely different. Someone could be easily mistaken in the fog. What if the person running past the other day hadn’t been Keith at all. What if Lance had only seen Keith in the fog because he had wanted to see Keith?

Lance brushed those thoughts away once he got tired of them, which wasn’t long. Thinking too deeply right then hurt. He was probably drunk. Against the last shred of sober judgment he had, Lance approached the bar. “Hey,” Lance said, flopping down next to Keith’s spot at the bar. Keith, startled, blinked at Lance before a very forced “hey.” It didn’t take long for Keith to process just how far gone Lance was. That made him a bit more comfortable. “What are you doing here, you’re not old enough to drink.”

“Shhh.” Lance shushed, putting his finger up in the air and wagging it about. “They don’t know that.” He stage-whispered.

 “How much did you uh, drink there buddy?” Keith asked, pushing his drink away from him.

“Some, I feel _good_.” Lance paused and thought, in the drunken manner in which you could visibly see the cogs turning in his foggy brain. “I was just about to leave and go to Fauna’s apartment when I saw you. I just _had_ to stop by.”

Keith pulled on his jacket. It was weird to see him in anything other than his uniform. “Alright, let’s get you home.” Keith stood up and grabbed Lance by the arm. “Where’s your jacket?”

Lance shrugged, “don’t have one, don’t need one”. His cheeks were flushed and buzzed.

Keith muttered a curse or two under his breath as he leads him out of the bar.”Keith,” Lance said gravely, “we are the Odd man out.” Lance pointed up to the Oddman sign and chuckled. Keith almost dropped him.

 

* * *

 

After Keith got to the apartment, Lance immediately flopped onto the wicker couch. “Lance, this isn’t your apartment.” Keith sighed.

“ _Oh yeah_? Then why do I have a key?” To prove his point, Lance threw the key into one of the far corners of the living room, never to be seen again.

Keith wandered around, flipping on and off light switches. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. He rummaged around in the cabinets and then the fridge. “Do you have any bread?” Keith called out.

“Nah, I am not hungry.” Lance said, “but thank you for asking”.

Keith sighed in frustration for about the millionth time that night and came back to the living room. Lance was laying on the wicker couch, a cushion over his face.

“Drink some water.”

“No.” He protested, pushing the cushion off his face.

What little patience Keith had left was wearing thin. But all Lance could see was a pretty kaleidoscope of a red jacked and livid violet eyes.

”Nice,” Lance muttered incoherently.

Keith took a long sip of his water, counting to ten. He swallowed. Lance got up off the couch and started to take off his shoes and eventually pulled off his shirt. “It’s so hot in here.” He shuffled over to the thermostat in his socks. “Let’s get some AC in this bitch!”

Keith expected Lance to plop back down on the couch. But who can predict anything that a drunk person is gonna do, especially someone who is as unpredictable as Lance? Lance went towards the bedrooms and opened a door. It was neatly made up, Fauna clearly had been expecting company.

Keith followed him momentarily. Lance began to take off his pants and was ready to hop in the bed in his socks and boxers. Then he whipped around when Keith turned on the lights. “It hurts.” He whined, walking back to the doorway where Keith stood and Lance flipped off the lights. He looked at Keith in his hazy, drunken way. At that moment he made that utterly stupid decision, one that could change everything. One that he would come to regret. 

Lance kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was quite a chapter! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!
> 
> Anywyas, like always, your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!


	10. And a Moment You'll Never Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes even more bad decisions! This ought to be good! 
> 
> WARNING!!!: NSFW CONTENT AHEAD!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays! I don't actually like Christmas too much. Anyways, I remembered to update today! (It is 23:13 rn so it's still Christmas Eve)
> 
> Y'all don't care but I started reading Percy Jackson and I finished the first book in less than two days.

Lance’s lips crashed onto Keith’s. Lance’s eyes slid closed, but Keith’s didn’t. Keith spent several shocked seconds staring at the closed eyes of a drunk before pushing Lance away. “What’s wrong?” Lance asked, licking his lips. As far as he was concerned, they were both having a good time. Lance was having a good time. He didn’t consider any repercussions. Frankly, thinking about it made his head pound. He just saw an attractive face in front of him and went for it.

“ _What’s wrong_?” Keith’s face was nearly as flushed as Lance’s, but more from frustration than from drunkenness. That kiss was more than enough to sober him up completely. “What’s wrong is that you’re drunk!”

“I don’t see your problem?” Lance asked as he took a step forward. “I thought you liked it?” Lance reached out to him. He wasn’t used to being rejected, it both perplexed and embarrassed him.

“Lance, go to bed.” Keith pushed the younger boy back onto the bed harshly. Lance grabbed his wrist and pulled him down along with him. “Stay with me,” Lance said, brushing his fingers along Keith’s neck. An involuntary shiver ran its course through Keith’s body. Lanceloomef into Keith’s eyes and awaited Keith’s response before going any farther. Not wanting to cross another line just yet. “Fine,” Keith muttered his face reddened, kicking off his shoes and rolling off of Lance. Lance took this opportunity to crawl on top of Keith and started hungrily kissing his neck. All the meanwhile, Lance was adeptly pushing off Keith’s jacket. And he wouldn’t have noticed either unless the cold air hadn’t hit his arms as soon as his jacket was gone. Keith was caught up with the peculiarity of it all. ‘ _This guy is kissing me,_ ’ he thought, ‘ _he is kissing me and I like it_ ’.

Keith relented, moving his neck so that it would be more open to Lance. Lance slid his hand under the hem of Keith's shirt and ran his fingers over Keith’s abdomen. At that moment, the fact that Keith was a guy did not bother him in the slightest. The fact that it did not bother him normally would have bothered him. But then again, Lance wasn't thinking about much of anything except the task at hand: making his partner feel good. He could hear Keith’s breathing growing just the slightest bit ragged, that meant he was doing his job right.

He peppered ravenous little pecks all along Keith’s neck and chin back up to his mouth. It tasted like alcohol. Keith didn’t know what he didn’t believe more: that he was getting laid, or that it was with Lance. Lance parted to drag the black tee shirt over Keith's head. He paused to admire Keith laying half naked on the bed underneath him before he started kissing again. He was definitely leaving hickeys on Keith’s neck that the collar of his uniform wouldn’t cover, but he didn’t care. Nothing in the past or present mattered in the least of all to Lance. The trail of hickeys was now leading down his torso, down to his hips. Lance unbuttoned Keith’s jeans while leaving a final mark. He clamped his teeth down on the zipper of the pants an unzipped Keith's pants with his mouth. Keith covered his mouth in shock and embarrassment, but he couldn’t deny that it impressed and turned him on a little bit. ‘Who the fuck is this, and what have they done with Lance?’ Keith decided it was time to throw caution and reason to the wind. He flipped Lance over and started on Lance’s neck. Lance’s heavy eyelids went wider before slowly drawing closed.

 

* * *

 

Lance wished that wasn’t the last thing he remembered. His head had been pounding when he woke, and gradually the memories came back bit by bit. Lance broke out in a cold sweat. He wished he hadn’t remembered dragging what he thought was going to be his friend into bed with him after his first night of drinking again. It took a few days for Lance to finally go back to Café Altea. He devoted most of his newfound free time to either studying or apartment hunting.

The whole thing was that he had no idea how drunk Keith was, or whether or not he would remember. This made him nervous. He hadn’t felt this insecure over a hook up since he was seventeen. He was afraid he had crossed a line that would ruin their friendship.

Within those few days of absence, Lance tried to avoid Keith altogether. That was hard though, he passed Café Altea several times on a regular day, he could see it from the Library of Lions. Not to mention the philosophy notes that Lance clung to like a life preserver (which they essentially were). Those neat little letters are written one by one. The t that had a swoop, the y that had a curled tail. Lance absorbed all the little details, not that he knew what to do with all of this information. Apartment hunting hadn’t been going great, so Fauna offered to let Lance stay with her over the summer since she had space and welcomed the help with rent. Matt and Hunk helped Lance move his belongings into the empty room next to Fauna’s. Lance decided he would fill all his newfound time by taking up a job. He sent in quite a few applications during his free hours after exams. Soon enough, all of campus was deserted, nearly every Professor, staff member, and student was back home since graduation had concluded.

Lance wiped his sweaty palms off before grasping the metal handle of the door and entered the shiny chrome building. Lance had been gone long enough for Keith to be surprised by his arrival. However, he wasn’t gone long enough to be able to miss the yellowing bruises peeking from the collar of his uniform. Even seeing them brought back memories he hadn’t remembered on his own.

Keith tracing his fingers across his throat, complaining about how he was going to have to explain these to his boss. Then it was Keith overtop of him. Lance’s cheeks were warm. Keith gingerly planted his lips at the base of Lance’s neck. His eyes popped open wide, in shock. Keith was so gentle. But soon it was more intense, starving kisses were sprinkled hungrily about Lance’s neck. Keith seemed like he wanted to taste every inch of Lance as if he would never get the chance again (which he figured probably wouldn’t).

Allura sent him a knowing smile. Lance shot her a confused glance, and then suddenly he had a brilliant idea. He sat at his normal seat and ordered coffee as if nothing happened. In the same manner, Keith brought his coffee over, as if nothing happened. “Thank you,” Lance smiled. Keith grunted in response. There were a few families in the diner that night, stragglers from after the graduation ceremony, stopping for a good family meal before the long drive back home. Parents catching up with their children, asking a plethora of questions which earned half-hearted responses. Classic rock poured out softly from the record machine.

In a room full of people eagerly seeking out conversation from one another, Lance found himself isolated and silent. Nothing had ever happened. The coffee was warm, but he was so cold.


	11. Oh My Darling, Clementine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets Lance's roommate for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody, hope your new year is going great! It's 20biteen, which means it is my year to shine! I have a couple surprises planned in the chapters to come. Make sure that y'all comment to leave critiques or just anything in general because I really do appreciate your comments so, so much!

Living with Fauna wasn’t all bad. In fact, she was barely home. Lance spent his mornings playing with Clem and sending pictures of her in the group chat. She wasn’t that much of a hassle to take care of. However, Lance didn’t know what he was in for until he began working.

 

* * *

  

Lance became a part-timer at a local bookstore. He worked as many shifts as he could get, luckily for him, they were chronically short-staffed during the summer. He shelved books, changed price tags, and took inventory for a few hours every day.

Slowly, but surely, he was spending more of his free time in Café Altea. Both he and Keith knew there was something off between them, but neither of them said a word to address the problem.

There was still so much to fill Keith in on. For starters, he was living with the nymphomaniac next door. He would spin on his stool at the counter, keeping Keith company until the wee hours of the morning. They listened to classic rock on the jukebox and held amicable conversations, but something was indisputably _off_. Though neither of them dared say it.

Lance swiped through social media while Keith busied himself with some rather menial task. He never liked bringing out his phone at work much. Lance watched the muscles in his arms flex as he moved them.

Lance had flashbacks of when Keith’s arms were wrapped around him. He watched Keith’s slender fingertips poke adeptly at the buttons with as much grace as he had when he had traced around Lance’s neck.

Lance remembered the next morning, climbing out of Fauna’s bed. Alone. Confused. He was stark naked. He had run his own fingers against the purple bruises on his throat. His head hurt and he couldn’t remember who had left him, but he was glad he had fun.

“Lance!” Keith yelled, his face inches apart from his own.

“What, mullet?” Lance asked, blushing. He was totally brushing off the fact that he’d zoned out.

“I have been calling you for three minutes, what have you possibly been thinking about that hard?” Keith asked rolling his violet eyes back into his head. He was too damn beautiful.

Lance blushed, as if Keith could read his mind, he blushed too. “Anyways,” Keith cleared his throat, “my shift is over now so…” Allura was in the kitchen, reorganizing some boxes and inspecting some produce.

“Oh, um,” Lance started to gather his belongings. “Okay, see you later then.” They both exited out of opposite doors.

 

* * *

 

 “So,” Lance began, looking over to Keith in the din of the streetlight, “you live around here?” It was another one of those weird times where Lance was seeing Keith in a new light, fluorescent, to be exact. His view was clear and close, without the barrier of glass or the fogginess of alcohol.

Keith nodded. From the side, his eyelashes looked even longer, and his mullet curled up a bit at the nape of his neck, how badly Lance had the urge to tug on it!

“Me too,” Lance said, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. _‘He’s too damn beautiful.’_

“I know,” Keith said. Lance looked confused for a moment before he sucked in a breath. Keith looked surprised as if the words had just slipped out.

They walked in silence. Both of them thought or actively tried not to think about that night.

Outside of the apartment complex, Lance stopped. When Lance stopped, Keith stopped too. “Well this is me, see ya’ later.” Lance gave the other man a half-assed wave.

“Lance?” A voice called, they both whipped their heads around. Fauna was standing at the lobby doors of the apartment complex, smoking a cigarette. Her often unruly purple locks were tied up pin-up style into a white silk headscarf like some sort of olden day movie star. Silver rings encased various parts of her fingers and her wrist jingled with bangles whenever she took a drag. Her figure was accentuated in a pale yellow sundress, though it was far from sunlight. She promptly dropped the cigarette, stamping it out with her white pumps. Lance wondered if she had just gotten home or if she was on her way out. She took a once over of Keith.

Slender, but sturdy. Quiet, but reflective. Uncharted, but dependable. Yet there was also a sense of recognition in there that Lance couldn't quite place. Fauna nodded her head in approval, curling the one corner of her red lips. “And you must be Keith,” she extended a heavily ring-clad hand towards the man, “won’t you come in for some coffee?” Her voice was laced with venom.

 

* * *

 

 

Somehow or another, Fauna was able to coax Keith into coming up to their apartment for coffee. Even Lance had protested the idea. Her ability to lure men into her apartment was something to be feared. Yet, there the three of them were, drinking coffee in the living room. A bell jingled and Clem came running over to Lance, purring and rubbing her face along Lance’s ankles. Keith’s eyes dilated when he looked at the feline creature. “Who’s this pretty little kitty?” Lance froze, they all did, except for Clem, who approached Keith after scenting his hand. She nestled her little face into Keith’s lax palm and slid her body through his fingers.

Fauna, who may or may not have been tipsy, burst into cacophonous laughter. She abruptly stopped laughing and said, “that’s adorable” with no hint of humor whatsoever. Lance blushed, for reasons unknown to him. Keith, on the other hand, had no idea what was so funny. He kept stroking the cat, which purred under his fingertips.

Keith was mesmerized, Clem lept into his lap and promptly curled up, leaning against the warmth of Keith’s body heat. Lance was entranced, watching Keith smile gently at the little creature nestled in his lap. It was a different face that Lance hadn’t seen before on Keith.

Lance was used to the cold service industry smile with dead eyes and a forced smile. But something about Keith ’s glittering amethyst eyes and soft twirl of the lip mad Lance’s heart melt like softened butter. He could sit and watch Keith gingerly pet Clem for hours. He was almost in love.

Fauna, however, soon grew bored. She stretched and yawned, putting on a record on the rickety old record machine. Then she was pulling out her phone. It was apparent that her buzz was dying down and she was settling into the drowsiness that came with being intoxicated. Eventually, she turned into bed, ending the trance and breaking the spell. It was as if the two men had suddenly realized where they were and what was happening.

They both remembered suddenly, that they had to be awkward, that the events that had transpired in the bedroom less than one hundred feet away were awkward. It was almost as if the oddness of it all wasn’t in what each man thought in their own mind, but in what they expected the other man to think about it. There was uncomfortable silence, and Clem suddenly sprung out fo Keith’s lap and bounded towards Fauna’s bedroom. Clem paused at the doorway and looked rather thoughtfully from Lance to Keith, from Lance and Keith back to Fauna’s slightly ajar door. She disappeared.

“Well, I should head out.” Keith began, “I have work tomorrow.” He stood up.

“Yeah,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, “me too.” Lance walked him to the door. The door closed, the conversation ended, but the awkward feelings never remained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to leave a comment so I know how y'all are enjoying the story! I am debating on whether or not to publish chapters twice a month since I have so many buffer chapters at the moment. 
> 
> Also maybe planning on making some Valentine's special or something like that but we shall see how that's gonna work because it is only June in the story right now. I have a few different ideas at the moment.


	12. Man, Fuck Cupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the blast from the past Valentine's Special!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am updating this early because my usual update day and the deadline of my senior thesis are conflicting. After I finish presenting my senior thesis, I will have so much more time to devote to this work, I can't wait!
> 
> I have been dabbling with the concepts of flashbacks and the like for this book so yeah. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy! Make sure to leave lots of comments for me!

_It was a dry, barren February. It was chilly, but there was no snow, making the naked trees and the trash-strewn streets look all the more depressing. Still, it was a day for celebrations, Valentine’s day, five years before our present story._

Shiro had everything out an orderly. Every ingredient was prepared and pre-measured little dishes, waiting to be added. He was melting butter in a saucepan before adding the minced shallots to be sauteed. The pasta was boiling and he was buttering bread as quickly as he could on the metal baking tray. Shiro was lucky that alfredo didn’t take too long to make because Adam was going to burst in through the apartment door at any moment.

Keith had volunteered to be out for the night. Whether he actually had plans or was simply making an excuse to give Shiro and his partner a night alone together, Shiro didn’t know.

He popped the baking tray into the oven on broil. He drained the pasta and began to make the sauce. He poured some of the pasta water back into the original pot and began mixing cream into the saucepan with the melted butter and shallots. It all smelled so good. His stomach growled. Shiro ignored that, for now. He wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm. There was steam billowing from the pot. A timer dinged and he put on an oven mitt before retrieving the baking sheet from the oven.

Shiro dished out two portions of fettuccine alfredo and set the bread into a basket. He had a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket on the counter. He set the table and lit the tall candle on the dining room table before dimming the lights. Shiro heard the door unlocking and he tore off his apron.

“Welcome home!” Shiro greeted as he met Adam’s eyes.

“Takashi!” He exclaimed though it was a hushed whisper. His eyes landed on the dining room table and he covered his mouth. Shiro grabbed his hands and smiled gently. “This is the most romantic thing you’ve ever done!” Shiro pulled him to the table and held out the chair for him.

“Your food is going to get cold.” Shiro urged, sitting across the table. Adam reached his and across the table and Shiro met it with his own, warm hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

_It was dark, there were some frosty stars twinkling about in the sky. Fauna and a boy were laying in the bed of the boy's pickup truck on top of a mountain of blankets. There were patio furniture cushions laid behind their heads and candy wrappers strewn over the blankets. They were very close._

“Valentine’s day is a lie.” Fauna whined, mouth full of chocolate. The boy took a swig of vodka out of the bottle before passing it to her. He had milk chocolate skin and dark hair, and two unbelievably thick eyebrows perched above glittering eyes.

“It’s not a lie so much as it is merely a commercialized holiday invented by Hallmark to boost the sale of cards during the end of winter holidays.”

“Oh shush, Seth! I know you don’t believe that!”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re a romantic.” Fauna gestured at him with the bottle of vodka. She was feeling warm and buzzed. “You always have been, you always will be. You’re into all that cheesy lovey-dovey shit.”

Seth pulled a thermos out from under the blankets and sat up more. He filled a styrofoam cup with Bailey’s spiked hot chocolate. Fauna twisted the top back onto the vodka bottle and reached her hand out to take his cup before he could offer it. “There’s no shame in it, you just haven’t had your heart broken enough times to become disenchanted with all the trivial eccentricities of romance. It’s kinda cute in its own right.”

“And _you_ have?” His brown eyes were glittering in the starlight as he turned to her, all of his dark, black hair falling around his face from his bun in a disheveled sort of way. “Why my love, I have never known you to have a heart.”

She brushed her faded pink hair out of her face and put the cup up to her lips, a smile curled onto her face. “That is true, I try to keep my heart out of love.” She took a long gulp. Seth opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

“Ah fuck!” She cried, putting her cup down on the utility hatch behind their heads.

“What?!”

“I burnt my tongue.”

Seth chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “You _almost_ sounded cool there for a moment.” He placed a chaste kiss on her temple.

“I’m glad you don’t have a girlfriend.” Fauna muttered, popping a conversation heart into her mouth and crunching it.

“Hmm? Why? You’d miss me that much? I thought you were heartless, but _maybe_ that’s just your front.”

“It’s true! You wouldn’t be here right now, and I would be all alone.” She snuggled into his arms. “You’re the only person I can depend on, y’know.” Fauna was becoming choked up, she was definitely passing the tipsy mark and embarking into sad drunk territory. “I may not have a heart, but I do care about you.” She slurred.

She leaned into his ear and whispered. “I love you.” She confessed tears in the corner of her eyes.

Seth should have felt happy, but his heart only ached, knowing that the words didn’t carry the same weight to her but they meant the world to him.

* * *

There _were beer cans littered around the living room. A bottle of cheap wine lay empty and on its side on the coffee table. The only light was the intermittent technicolor glow from the television. Two people are making out on the couch messily and hungrily._

Keith pulled off the other boy’s sweater. “So eager to get my clothes off, are we, Kogane?” The other boy asked.

“Shut up, James,” Keith growled, his eyes were glinting in the glow of the television. James couldn’t tell if it was anger or lust. “Remember our ‘no talking’ rule?”

James sat up and pushed Keith back. “I don’t remember agreeing to that rule.” He was attacking Keith’s neck.

“You’re lucky you’re hot because your personality sucks,” Keith said. James smirked at him as he pulled back.

“You’re one to talk.” James nipped right where his mandible ended, this earned a groan from Keith. “You blow up every chance you get.” He moves up to Keith’s ear and places a kiss behind it.

“You know you’re the last person I want to be with on this lame-ass holiday, right?” Keith snarled.

“Right back at ya’.” James was grinding against him as he left hickeys on Keith’s sternum. “You may be a sweet fuck, but you’re one real pain in the ass.”

Keith groaned at the statement. “You’re no ray of fucking sunshine, yourself.”

“Mmmmhmmm yet who’s door did you come to tonight?” James was working his way down lower, busying his hands by unbuttoning Keith’s jeans.

Keith snorted, only half-amused. “Fine, fine, you’re a broody ass, I get it.” James put his hands up in defense. “But if I wasn’t doing this, then who else would get a kick out of making your life a living hell?” “If you’re just gonna sit there and run your mouth, I’m leaving.” Keith was starting to sit up.

James pushes him back down. “Oh no way, we’re absolutely going to fuck.”

* * *

_It was still daylight, though it was fading quickly. A girl sat on the roof of a house with a gingham sheet spread underneath her and a picnic basket set next to her legs. She had her arms wrapped around her. A gust of wind blew, rustling the nearby branches of a tree._

“Hey.” A voice called from behind, she jumped a bit as something fell around her shoulders. A blanket.

“It’s a bit cold.” Lance smiled, though he was just playing off how nervous he was. His parents were out of the house on a date, and some of his siblings had their own plan for Valentine’s day, but the safest spot in the house was the roof outside his bedroom window.

“It’s fine,” she drew the blanket around her and smiled politely. “It’s really sweet.”

Lance blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve never spent Valentine’s Day with someone before so…” he trailed off. “Just tell me if it gets weird.” He opened the picnic basket and pulled out some sandwiches and a bottle of sparkling cider.

The girl giggled at him and pulled him in for a quick peck on the nose. “I think it’s adorable.”

Lance was over the moon.


	13. Falling into Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this on the fifteenth after finishing my thesis, but I left my laptop charger at school. I am updating this on my phone lol. Anyways, as always, your feedback is much appreciated!

Once lance Had actually taken the time to get to know her, Fauna wasn’t so bad. She had good style, was fairly tidy, and had great taste in music. A bonus was that she stopped bringing people home with her once Lance moved in. She couldn’t cook for shit but ate with much gusto. Every now and again She and Lance would spend a night curled into the wicker furniture in the living room and gorge themselves on all sorts of dishes.

The best night of all was when Lance would make pizza and garlic knots for the two of them. They would watch a horror film or something and spend their time critiquing all the continuity errors between sequels, or how believable the special effects were.

It was a night just like that.

 

* * *

 

Clem was nestled in between Fauna and Lance on the couch. Fauna was wearing a ratty Rolling Stones tour tee that had cuts and holes in it from being worn and washed for over thirty years, and a pair of silk pajama shorts. She took a sip of a tall boy. Lance had a beer, but he hadn’t even drunk half of it yet. Ever since that night, he was thinking of keeping his drinking on a short leash. He was doing his best and hoping he wouldn’t relapse any time soon. He foolishly overestimated his self control.

“Okay, but we should really make male crop tops a thing again.” Fauna said as they were watching Nightmare on Elm Street. It would have been a bit scarier of a movie if there wasn’t eighties technopop playing in the background of all of the scary scenes. Under Fauna’s black claws, was Clem, purring contently, only half awake.

There was a knock at the apartment door, Clem peeked one of her green eyes open and stopped purring. Lance looked at Fauna as if to ask if she was expecting anyone, she shrugged her shoulders. Lance couldn’t remember ordering any packages. They quickly played Rock Paper Scissors, Lance lost.

He reluctantly dragged himself off the sofa. There was another round of knocks at the door. “Coming!” Lance called out.

He looked through the peephole and much to his surprise, it was none other than Professor Shirogane.

“Um,” Lance said after unlocking and opening the door, “can I help you, Professor?”

* * *

 

 Needless to say, the movie night was canceled after that. Fauna didn’t even bother to clean up the cans of alcohol or the half pizza left on the coffee table. She did, however, make a pot of black coffee. Albeit, she was grumbling curses under her breath the entire time. She came back with a cup, fixed the way Lance liked it, and a cup of black coffee for the professor. After she handed them out, she perched in the wicker peacock chair by the window and sulked (since the professor had taken her spot on the couch). Clem slinked out from behind the couch and pounced daintily into Fauna’s lap. Both cat and girl seemed to be glaring at the young professor,never taking their eyes off him and observing his every motion. She looked like she was about to give him a piece of her mind, but whatever qualm she had with the professor, she didn’t instigate a discussion about it. She just held her tongue and stared at him in a peeved manner.

Her lavender locks hung wildly out of her ponytail, her shoulders rigid. Professor Shiro pretended not to notice, though he could tell his presence in the apartment was disquieting. He was used to strangers staring at him because of his mechanical arm, but he was not used to students glaring at him for seemingly no reason. The poor man cleared his throat.

“I came here to drop off Matt and Hunk’s final project. They wanted to enter it in a summer engineering competition,” the professor took a sip of the coffee hesitantly but politely, glancing down at the rather large package on the other side of the TV stand. “I didn’t want to leave it at the Holt’s doorstep while they were visiting a friend in Gotham, it probably would have gotten damaged or stolen.” He could feel Fauna’s gaze raise in burning intensity. “So I was talking to Keith earlier today and he told me where to find you. I would have called you first, but Keith only knew your address.” The professor did not address the dubious nature that Keith would know an address of a person, but not their phone number.

A million moments from that single night came ramming back into Lance’s skull, his hands were clammy. “It’s alright.” Lance took huge gulps of his coffee to keep himself from saying anything stupid. He almost gagged, there were so many grounds in it.

“I wouldn’t have come if I had known you were having a night in with your girlfriend.”

There was a loud snort, that did not sound anywhere near cheerful. “ _Girlfriend_?” Fauna snarled at the Professor, her drink in her hand. “I don’t date, you should know that, _Professor_ _Shirogane_.”

“I apologize for the misunderstanding.” If Professor Shirogane was in any way shocked or phased, he didn’t show it. He didn’t give Fauna the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him. He rose up, “I will be on my way.” He never brought up how he knew Fauna.

Lance walked him over to the door. The professor took his hand and shook it with his mechanical arm, “see you around,” the white-haired professor said with a smile suggesting that he knew more than he would admit to. The professor left Lance with more questions than answers as he exited the apartment.

 

* * *

 

The two of them were back to normal. It was almost as if the night they shared had never happened. Neither of them spoke a word of it, and if the thought had ever arisen in either of their minds, they certainly didn’t display that. Lance came into Café Altea every night after his shift at the bookshop, and he would stay and keep Keith company until Allura would come in to relieve his shift.

It wasn’t abnormal for Keith to come over for a beer after work and play with Clem, but at the same time, it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Each time he came, he brought a new treat or toy for her. When Fauna wasn’t out partying or whatever she did in her free time, she would retreat to her bedroom and give her roommate and his handsome friend some space. Fauna hadn’t directly told him, but she nonverbally encouraged Lance to get closer and closer to Keith. Her sly smile gave away that she definitely had some idea as to what had transpired the night she had entrusted Lance with her house key.

Since Professor Shirogane’s visit the other evening, Lance and Keith exchanged phone numbers in order to forego any future embarrassing predicaments. On occasion, Lance would send him a meme, and Keith would reply with a cute animal video, or perhaps a conspiracy theory explanation video. They sent texts on their work breaks and when they were laying in bed, about to sleep.

There were more changes since moving in with Fauna. She always had the fridge stocked with alcohol and offered him some almost every night (which he rarely declined) yet he still did his best to keep on track with moderation. Lance also had no way to access the campus gym, since it was summer break. The only part of his self-care routine that had remained was his skincare regimen.

Still, his life became routine in only the first two weeks of summer break. Lance decided he needed to pick up slack and actually establish a routine. Wake up, feed Clem, run around the block, take a shower. Then he would get dressed for his morning shift at the bookstore, play with Clem for a bit while making toast or something small. He would leave the apartment early to take his time walking in the warm early summer mornings. Sometimes he would go to Café Altea on his way. Sometimes he would arrive at the bookstore, get his coffee from the little coffee kiosk in the front corner of the store and begin his shift. Afterward, he would go to Café Altea and grab a coffee or a snack until Keith finished his shift.

* * *

 

Lance loved his job (unexpectedly), and he loved working with the people at Book Nook. He got settled very quickly into the atmosphere there and became comfortable with his co-workers almost immediately. Each one had a part of them that lance enjoyed and respected. There were few people who worked at the bookstore, most of whom were students who had parents who lived in the city. They were a handful of really interesting people.

For starters, the manager, Lauren, was not the oldest but was by far the most capable employee at the Book Nook. She was in ROTC, meaning her bark was just as bad as her bite. Lance found she was overall fun, as long as everyone got their work done. Though she would tend to take on responsibilities when she was already overwhelmed. She had shorter hair for a girl that rested upon her shoulders (though it was a rich brown that you couldn’t help but want to run your hands through). She also had clear blue eyes, and normally wore flannel, like a genderbent Sam Winchester.

Lawrence, or Law (as he insisted being called), a burly light-skinned man who always smelled of vanilla, was the Book Nook’s barista. His hair was soft, curly brown that was cropped more at the sides. He had eyes with no color, they reflected every light and color right back at you. He was a pre-law major with a soft vibe and an even softer heart. He would always whip up special drinks for Lance to test out.

Ophelia was the resident bookworm (even for bookstore standards). Lance would often find her in the break room, curled on the couch, reading one of their new releases. She had pale brown skin, and her deep brown eyes were deeply lined with kohl. She was excellent when recommending books to children and older adults, but when it came to anyone in their late teens to middle-aged, , she would pass off her duties to Lance, claiming that she had some other business to attend to. She often forgot the time when she was reading, and she could spend hours lovingly tucking books into their shelves, or setting up displays, but you could bet there was nobody else at the Book Nook who loved reading as much as Ophelia.

Then there was Lance who was sort of the black sheep of the Book Nook. Lance neither liked nor hated reading. It was more of a task than a leisure activity, but he liked books well enough. He didn’t mind spending time with all of the books, and he had no beef with his co-workers. The routine of it all kept him sane and grounded, if only for a little while. His daily tasks went by smoothly, and everything was peacefully mundane.

He felt like he could really get his act together.

For the first time, he wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most exciting chapter but I thwre are more interesting ones to come! Make sure to comment because I love seeing what you guys all have to say about my work!


	14. Everyone Loves a Good Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually has nothing to do with sex, surprisingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I am a huge slut for all of the robins (except Damian, the little gremlin).

Lance was reading through one of the travel pamphlets that Allura kept supplied by the front entrance of Café Altea. “How come you never told me that Allura’s mother lives in Gotham?” Lance asked.

 

Keith shrugged, reading the pamphlet upside down. They were closed, for once, since Allura was out of town visiting her mother, she cut back on hours for Keith. Lance watched Keith’s dark eyes scan over the words. “It never really came up in conversation. Allura’s mother couldn’t bear to stay in the city after her husband passed, so she moved somewhere new, somewhere more lively.”

 

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous to live in Gotham?”

 

Keith’s eyes glittered with excitement, “extremely.”  

 

“Woah,” Lance said, “calm down there, buddy.” You could tell he didn’t really mean it.

 

“You a Batman fan?” Lance asked.

 

Keith nodded his head vigorously. “You?”

 

“Ah, I prefer Nightwing, the one from Bludhaven,” Lance responded.

 

“You can’t get traveler’s insurance in Gotham, y’know. And even if you can even find someone who offers it, it’s a scam.” Keith began to spit out all sorts of other facts about Gotham in the same manner that a busted pipe spews water. Lance watched him drone on and on. He would sit there and listen to him talk for hours if only Keith kept making that adorable face.

 

Alas, an alarm buzzed on his phone, cutting Keith off mid-sentence. “Ah,” Lance said, looking down at his screen, “I have to get to Book Nook.”  He downed the last of his lukewarm coffee before dashing out the door. “See you tonight, Keith.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lauren had already taken care of counting the petty cash and opening up by the time Lance arrived at Book Nook. “You’re here early.” She remarked, not even glancing up from what she was writing in her notebook. She was wearing a red and black plaid button-down over a black v neck tee shirt despite it being well over eighty degrees.

 

“Yeah,” Lance said, looking his manager in the eye. “Did you know that you can’t get traveler’s insurance in Gotham?”

 

She paused for a minute, digesting this unasked for, but undoubtedly interesting fact. Then she turned to him, blinking at him before shaking her Sam Winchester hair side to side. “No.”

 

“But seriously, who the fuck vacations in Gotham?” Lance asked, heading around to the front of the store where Lawrence was polishing off the countertop of the coffee kiosk. Lauren shrugged her shoulders and went back to scribbling in her notebook.

 

“Good morning,” Lawrence beamed at Lance. Lawrence was the type of guy who could brighten anyone’s day, no matter the circumstances.

 

“God, you’re gonna blind me!” Lance whined melodramatically. He smiled at the bigger man, who folded the rag and placed it behind the counter. “I know half the girls that come in here just to see that smile.”

 

“Well I bet that’s gonna change, I have seen the way you flirt with virtually _every_ person who buys a book, even the little old ladies in the book club.”  Lawrence pushed up his sleeves and began to brew some dark roast coffee as he spoke. The scent that wafted up from the machine nearly made Lance melt.

 

“What can I say, I am good with people.”

 

Keith’s coffee was good, but Lance had discovered that one of the best perks of working at Book Nook was that you got free coffee at least once a shift. Lawrence had previously worked at a small coffee house back throughout high school, he was excellent at his craft. He would make latte art look easy, and every drop of coffee was as delicious as the first. There was never a single ground in any cup! Lance drank his coffee while flipping through the coffee machine manual. He took a deep breath, there was no better combination of smells than books and coffee.

 

* * *

 

 

Ophelia came into Book Nook a few hours after Lance’s shift started. There were people set up at the counter along the front window of the shop, sipping lattes and reading books. It was the slower part of the day where nobody seemed to leave the store, but nobody new came in either. She was wearing a white long sleeved blouse with frilly sleeves and a plunging neckline. There were several dainty silver necklaces around her neck and she wore a pair of dark denim jeans. Her eyes were darkly lined, as always. She barely looked at Lance in the eyes as she passed, even though he had been working with her for a while, he couldn’t get used to her rather odd behaviors. She took her place behind the counter without so much as a glance at her coworkers and climbed onto the stool. She sat on her perch and observed her surrounding briefly before cracking the spine on one of the new romance releases. _Technically_ she wasn’t supposed to be reading the merchandise without purchase, but Lauren made an exception for Ophelia and her voracious appetite for literature.

 

When Lance went on break, there was a plate of strawberry muffins in a pan on the table. He helped himself to one before sliding down onto the break room sofa. He was texting the groupchat, updating Hunk and Matt on how Clem was doing, sending pictures that he’d taken the night before.

 

“You never told me you had a cat!” Lawrence gasped as he walked in the break room.

 

Lance looked up from his phone. “Yeah, her name is Clem.” Lance moved over on the couch, he clicked on a folder in his camera roll labeled ‘Clem’. He began scrolling through and started playing a few videos he’s saved from snapchat of Matt aimlessly following Clem around while she blatantly avoided him. There was also a photo burst of Clem launching herself off the couch and onto Matt’s face. Lawrence cooed over the pictures of the aggressive cat.

 

Lauren came into the lounge to tell Lance it was time to work, but of course, she too was drawn into swiping through pictures of Clem. Maybe five minutes later Ophelia came into the break room to ask Lawrence to come back out and make coffee. Then Ophelia was looking through the pictures. Soon they got to the portion of his camera roll that was either Fauna or usually Keith holding Clem. Occasionally, there was a selfie with Clem. Eventually, this had to end. Lance got a notification, his phone was on twenty percent battery.

 

Lauren snapped out of it. She looked at Ophelia, then to Lawrence, and finally to Lance. “If you’re here, she pointed to them, “and I am here,” she pointed to herself, “then who’s watching the store!” She raised her voice, everybody scattered, scrambling up to get out the door.

 

*PAGE BREAK*

 

Once Lance’s shift was over and he made his way back to his and Fauna’s apartment. He never thought of asking Fauna what she did for all those hours he was away. Whether the reason for not asking that question was because he figured it would be a boring answer or something he didn’t want to hear about, Lance didn’t know.

 

He used his key to collect the mail from their apartment mailbox in the lobby. Some political flyers, a free brochure for Gotham’s half off summer tours, Lance noted that there were some decent pet store coupons that he might want to consider. He shuffled through the mail on his way up the steps. There were a few letters for Fauna, one was from an art studio based in the west end of the city, and another was from a major interior design and architecture firm based in Bludhaven. Lance sorted through the mail as he jogged up the steps.

 

The other one was rent from last month. Fauna didn’t _need_ extra help with the rent (though where she got her money was a mystery), especially since rent dropped drastically in the summer months. Still, Lance wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he just mooched off of her and his contribution would open up her budget. She probably used that money to buy booze or cute clothes or makeup.

 

He decided tonight was a good night to stay in. He unlocked the door to his apartment and set Fauna's mail on the small bistro table in the kitchen. He put on some music on the record player. He fed Clem to keep her busy while he cleaned out her litter box and vacuumed the fur off of the sofa and cat bed. Soon enough, lance was caught up in cleaning, he went throughout the rooms, vacuuming all of the floors. Eventually, he wiped all the counters in the kitchen and windexed the glass-topped coffee table in the living room. The last thing he did was clean the bathroom, which meant moving all of the jars and tubes, and bottles of skin and hair products that accumulated. He sorted them out into their respective bins and drawers before whipping out the Comet and Lysol.

 

The smell of Comet reminded him of when his mother used to clean. She swore by Comet. It was essentially powered bleach, and when you have so many kids mucking about, you need something that kills germs. He remembers she even used to use it on the dishes before they finally had gotten a dishwasher. Lance sprinkled a bit of Comet around the bathtub before taking a damp rag and rubbing it into all the nooks and crannies, removing bottles of shampoo and conditioner and body wash as needed. Then he rinsed out the shower by running the water for a while and splashing it on the walls.

 

Never in his life did cleaning feel so cathartic.  

 

* * *

 

 

Keith arrived at the apartment late, after he closed up at the café. He came bringing Chinese food and some hard cider. An odd combination, but one Lance didn’t question. He limited himself to one cider. The two of them had gotten into a heated discussion about Batman conspiracy theories.

 

“They say Batman is actually Bruce Wayne.”

 

Lance snorted, “who’s ‘they’, anonymous trolls in Reddit forums?”

 

Keith pointed at Lance with his chopsticks. “Laugh all you want, but if you match up all of his adoptive kids with the new robins, it makes sense.”

 

“Oh yeah, and that would make Dick Grayson Robin? He was just a child!”

 

“They also speculate that the robins all went on to be their own hero.” Keith paused for dramatic effect. “Dick Grayson is Nightwing.”

  


Lance chewed his noodles. “Mmmhmm you know I love Nightwing, but I’m not buying it.”

 

“Nonbeliever.”

 

“Bruce Wayne doesn’t have time to be Batman, he works all day, when would he get sleep?”

 

“Evil never sleeps, and neither does Batman.”

 

“What about Superman? He and Batman hang out a lot, next thing you’re gonna tell me is that they’re in a superhero romantic relationship.”

 

“Fine, don’t believe me, one day you’ll see.”

 

Lance chuckled, bringing himself closer to Keith, moving his Chinese food to the side. He kissed the tip of Keith’s nose. “You’re so cute when you talk about superheroes like a little fanboy.”

 

Keith stuck out his tongue, much like a child.

 

“Don’t tempt me.” Keith teased. “Because I can get even more adorable.”


	15. Where Are You Going?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am updating early since I will be on a cruise for spring break on March 30th. Please make sure to leave lots of comments and feedback so I know how this work is doing and if there is any gaps or areas where I can improve!

The day Allura got back, you could see it on Keith’s face. You could also see it as Professor Shirogane and Professor Coran were occupying their seats at the counter.  Keith had a day off, yet he was still at Café Altea. Lance wasn’t used to having Allura pour his coffee, in the same respect that he wasn’t used to Keith being in the café in his casual clothes. It was downright sacrilegious. 

 

There were few people in the café at that time all recently served and happy. Allura announced that she would be back before disappearing behind the swinging kitchen door. Lance stirs his coffee and begins a conversation with Keith, though he is too busy glancing him over. Keith must have a closet filled up with only black tee shirts and jeans because that is all Lance has seen him wear (other than his cute pastel work uniform). Professor Coran heads over to the jukebox and inserts a quarter, shuffling through the songs before being satisfied with his choice of Drive-In by David Bowie and returning to his seat. 

 

Allura returned with a single package wrapped in newspaper and taped together with duct tape. She handed the shabbily presented package to Keith and leaned against the counter expectantly. “My mother found you a real treat this time.” She beamed. Lance couldn’t tell who was more excited, Keith or Allura.

 

Everyone turned to Keith, who looked from the package to Allura, to the package again. He tore it open ravenously, like a child opening their first present on Christmas morning. Allura had thoroughly wrapped the insides with both bubble wrap and additional layers of newspaper. Keith tore and tore until he was left with an object wrapped in a black cloth. “Be careful,” Allura warned, hardly able to contain her excitement. Lance could tell it took every shred of her self-control to not blurt out what the present was. 

 

Keith gingerly lifted the object, raising it up and down as if he were weighing it inside his head. He sat puzzled, if only for a few seconds. Keith gently pulled away the cloth, his violet eyes dancing in delight. “A Batarang?!” He cried. 

 

Keith lept out of his seat and marveled at the sharp metal weapon. “My mother somehow wound up at the scene of one of the skirmishes, and she just knew you would love it.” Her grin grew wider if that was even possible. All the other people in the café were watching this man wielding a sharp and dangerous weapon, a few continued eating nervously but for the most part they were unphased.-

 

_ “What a nerd.”  _ Lance thought as Keith showed off his new toy to both of the professors,  _ “a beautiful nerd.” _ Lance didn’t know  _ why  _ he thought this way, but he didn’t worry about getting too wrapped up in it. All that would do was make him question himself, and that wouldn’t accomplish anything in the end but making him fall apart. 

 

* * *

 

 

 After work that day, Lance came back to Café Altea to meet up with Keith. He found himself more and more spending time with him. However, it was Allura that had texted Lance and had asked him to take Keith out of the café for a change. Lance had never known anyone quite like Keith, someone who spent their days off of work at work. 

 

Lance didn’t know quite what he would invite Keith to do yet. He figured the waiter would be happy with spending a night in, playing with the cat. There was some beer in the fridge, in case they ran out of conversation topics. There were ingredients for pizza and garlic knots, he could ask Fauna if she would be home for dinner (though it was a Friday night, so that was doubtful).

 

Lance caught glimpses of himself on the shiny chrome exterior of Café Altea. He wore his usual jeans and tee shirt, it was too hot for him to wear his jacket. He entered the little diner and leaned against the bar. “Alright Keith,” Allura sighed, grabbing the decaf pot off the machine and gracefully tapping over to one of the booths where an older gentleman sat “off you go”. It was more crowded in the café than it had been earlier that day. 

 

Keith looked puzzled, he didn’t even bother to greet Lance. “Go where?” 

 

Allura rolled her eyes. “Out to go live your life,” she began to wind up her rag, “you’re still so young.” She shoved him away when she whipped him in the thigh with the rag while Lance was dragging Keith out of Café Altea. 

 

Keith clutched onto the Batarang as they walked to Lance’s apartment. Lance had a feeling, that he would be marveling that thing all night long. 

 

* * *

 

 

Keith lounged on the floor, his head propped up on one of the cushions scattered around the coffee table. There was a Mexican blanket thrown over him and he stared at the tv. Lance was sprawled on the couch, flipping through Netflix and drinking a beer. 

 

“So how long have you worked at Café Altea?” Lance asked while he mindlessly pressed the buttons on the remote control. 

 

“Hmmm, a year and a half maybe?” Keith pondered. Clem came out of hiding and stalked her way across the living room floor over to Keith. 

 

“Really, that long?”

 

“Yeah, I started working there in freshman year, shortly after I decided I was going to take a gap year.” Keith outstretched his arm from the corner of the blanket and held out his hand or Clem. 

 

“Do you plan to continue working when you go back to school?” Lance asked, directing his attention more onto Keith than to the television.

 

“I guess so. I will work whenever Allura needs help.” Clem rubbed her face into Keith’s palm and promptly began purring. 

 

“You’ve known her for a while?” 

 

“Yeah, she and Shiro have known each other since they were young. Before Shiro became a professor, Allura’s father was the dean of students here at the university.”

 

“Really?” Lance turned to lay on his stomach and propped up his chin on his arm.

 

“Yeah, and shortly after Shiro graduated from the Mechanical Engineering department, Alfor started setting up a little café that he could work on in his retirement.” Keith looked at Clem as he stroked her back, but you could tell it was one of those stares where he wasn’t really seeing her. “Then everything was ready for him to retire in the spring, there was even going to be a ceremony celebrating his thirty years of service to the school.” Keith’s lips turned down sourly. “He didn’t make it though, there was a traffic accident at the big intersection downtown.” 

 

“Wow,” Lance said dumbly, not knowing what else to say. Keith breathed solemnly. 

 

“Ever since then, Allura has been putting her all into running the Café that her father worked so hard to set up. She stopped pursuing her masters and took up working.” Keith turned his head up and looked at Lance. “It means a lot to her, and she means a lot to me, so I guess the café is important to me too.” 

 

Clem crawled on top of Keith’s chest and curled into an orange puff. Lance watched her rise and fall with each of Keith’s breaths. It was mesmerizing.

 

“What about you?” Keith asked, breaking the trance.

 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, making eye contact. 

 

“Where do you work?” Lance realized he had never told Keith about where he got a job. The thought had never even crossed his mind that he should tell Keith. It was the same way that Fauna had a job. Lance knew only that she worked and when she was working, but he didn’t know where or what she did.  

 

“I work at Book Nook, it's a few blocks down, on Peach Street.” Keith nodded his head. “It’s a really nice place, one of the most relaxing places I have ever worked!” Lance gave an uneven smile.

 

“What other jobs have you had before?” Keith asked in earnest. 

 

“My parents used to own this little pizza shack on the beach back home. I used to work there in the summers.” Lance’s face softened into a reminiscent smile. “Y’know, I can’t even eat pizza at other places because it’s just not the same as it was on Veradera Beach.” Lance sighed.

 

“Are you good at making pizza?”

 

“If I had to say, I guess I am?” Lance paused a bit. “I was never the first option, but I am competent enough at it I guess.” 

 

“Maybe you should make it for me sometime.” Keith mused. 

 

“Yeah,” Lance laughed breathily, “I make some killer garlic knots too.” 

“It’s a date then.” The words hung in the air like a dense fog, too thick to be dismissed. 

 

“Ah, yeah.” Lance agreed with a smile on his lips, not knowing why he was so happy. “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can really tell I am DC trash lmao.


	16. Another Round for the Fellas in the Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to read the next chapter on the 30th! It’s gonna be a doozy! Make sure to leave lots of comments so I know how you guys are liking the story progression.

It was getting to the point of denial that Lance almost couldn’t tell whether not that night with Keith had been a figment of his drunk imagination or not. Half of him was desperately hoping it was. See, that night with Keith had brought up a whole slew of new thoughts. Thoughts he had always actively avoided. Of course, these thoughts revolved around his sexuality.

 

It wasn’t as if Lance hadn’t been with another guy before, he had, on multiple occasions. Be that as it may, Lance had never been with a guy on his own. There was always a third person, a girl there to balance it out. Threesomes don’t make people gay. But what does getting plastered and making out with your hot male friend make you?

 

Lance didn’t ask to be like this. For as far as he’s known he liked girls. This was Lance, a ladies’ man. That’s who he _was_. While he couldn’t deny that some men were attractive, he had never once thought about having sex with them of his own.

 

“Are you okay?” A voice called.

 

“What?” Lance snapped back to reality, immediately forgetting about his gay pandora’s box.

 

“Lance, are you alright?” Keith rephrased, pouring some freshly brewed coffee into Lance’s the half-empty mug.

 

Lance rubbed his eyes with his palms. “Yeah, um,” he wrapped his hands around his coffee and drew in a sharp breath, “I um, it’s just been a long day.” Lance smiled wearily at the mullet-haired boy. Keith looked unconvinced that there was no deeper issue, but regardless, he didn’t press further. Professor Shirogane was at the counter, along with Professor Coran, they were both going over some raggedy old notebook. Keith twirled on his heel and poured coffee into Professor Shiro’s mug while grabbing Professor Coran’s mug off the counter to fill with hot water.

 

The café was busier right after Lance got off his shift at the Book Nook. Lots of tourists would stop by on their way to Gotham City. Families would talk in loud voices about their plans to go ‘batwatching’.

 

“Your hair’s gotten longer,” Lance said after Keith served a family of seven breakfast for dinner.

 

“Yeah,” Keith self-consciously touched a piece of his hair. “Allura’s been on my ass about either cutting it or wearing it up.”

 

“You really should,” Lance remarked, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Yeah, but I am not prepared to fully embrace the rat-tail lifestyle just yet.” Lance snorted his coffee and then spent a few minutes wheezing like an old man because the coffee had been hot. Keith sopped up the spilled coffee, unphased.

 

“I am sure you’d look fine with your hair up.” Lance encouraged.

 

“You think?”

 

“I am positive. Hey, Allura?” Lance called out to the beautiful woman with the seductive accent. She looked up from the ratty notebook that she and the professors had been pouring over.

 

“Yes, Lance?” He loved it when she called him _Lonce._

 

“Do you have a hair band?”

 

She thought for a moment, then pulled one off her wrist. “Yes, what for?”

 

“Keith.” Lance jabbed his thumb in Keith’s general direction.

 

She flashed him a wide smile before tossing Keith the black circle.

 

“Lance, I don’t really know how to use this.” Keith looked down at the circle, twisting it.

 

“C’mere,” Lance held out his hands, one gestured for the hair tie, the other for Keith to turn around.

 

Flustered, Keith did so. Lance gently ran his fingers through Keith’s black hair. It was as soft as he remembered, but then again, there were a few tangles in it. He combed his fingers through, raking Keith’s scalp, fingertips tracing the nape of his neck. He tied what hair he could into a little ponytail. The whole affair lasted only about three seconds, but that was long enough for Keith’s ears to go red. “You were wearing it like that the first day I saw you.” Lance commented.

 

For a split second that felt like a lifetime, Keith remembered Lance tugging on his hair as he kissed him. He choked out a ‘Thank you’ and went back to work.

 

* * *

 

 

“Just go for it,” she nudged him with the pointed toe of her high heels, “you deserve to be happy and have fun.” Fauna brushed some lavender coils off her speckled shoulders and turned back to look at the crowd. The crowd was noisy and the oddly dressed people flocked to the bar. Fauna caught the eye of the same handsome man she went home with last time she had dragged Lance to the Oddman.

 

You’d think he would’ve learned his lesson.

 

He slid into the booth next to her, pinching her side with one hand, holding a drink in the other. “It’s fancy meeting you here.” He pressed his lips onto her neck for a second or two. “Nice to see you too,” the man raised his drink in Lance’s general direction.

 

“What’s your name again?” The man asked, squinting.

 

“Lance.”

 

“Lance, are you sure you won’t be joining us tonight?” The man’s gaze made Lance uncomfortable, he knew it’s intent, he had seen it many times himself. He was getting a weird sense of déja vu.

 

 _Lust_.

 

The tables were turned. It felt weird, Lance not making the first move on someone. Maybe because it was another man? Lance doubted that. It wasn't disgusting. If anything, what was disgusting was the notion that this man had asked Lance to have a threesome with him and Lance’s roommate, and he wasn’t bothered by it at all. In fact, Lance was rather intrigued by the idea.

 

‘ _Am I gay?’_ Lance thought. He wished he could have one of those shots that the people at the bar were doing. Lance did not answer the man, instead, he excused himself to the bathroom.

 

 _‘I don’t look gay.’_ He looked into the bathroom mirror, then began washing his hands. _‘I don’t feel gay.’_ He turned off the tap, dried his hands on a brown paper towel and opened the door. _‘But what if I am?’_

 

* * *

 

 

Lance did not leave the Oddman with Fauna and the man, once again. Lance would rather spend his time sitting alone at the bar, nursing the same gin and tonic for the next hour in a half. Eventually, Lance left the bar without finishing his drink. He had never left a bar sober before. He turned around the corner to find Keith, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

 

“Oh,” Lance said, when their eyes met, “I didn’t know you smoked.”

 

“I don’t,” Keith replied pretty convincingly for someone who was speaking through a cloud of nicotine.

 

“Oh?” Lance started walking home.

 

“Yeah,” Keith said, following suit, for some reason. The man he had been standing next to called out, “Babe, where do you think you’re going?!”

 

“Don’t call me babe.” Keith raised a middle finger and kept walking, unphased.

  


“You’re drunk,” Lance stated.

 

“Yep.” Keith flicked out his cigarette, stepping on it without a pause.

 

“Where are you going?” Lance asked, slowing his pace down to match Keith's.

 

“Your place, if I’m lucky.” Keith winked.

  
_‘Fuck!’_ Lance panicked internally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the next chapter is going to be out on the 30th. Make sure to leave me some comments telling me what you think is gonna happen in this relationship. Suggestions and critiques are greatly appreciated!


	17. Fuck Your Sponge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe I am an actual adult now this is so surreal. Soon I will be in college and oh boi these past ten months have been a real challenge but also a lot of milestones have been made.

Given Lance’s position, he didn’t feel he had the right to refuse. Keith was much better at seeming sober when he was drunk than Lance was. At least in that moment.  Lance looked over at Keith. The streetlights shone a fluorescent halo around the crown of Keith’s head. His eyelashes looked so long when Lance looked at him from the side. When Lance noticed the ponytail was still in, a faint smile curled up the corner of his lip. He remembered his fingers tracing Keith’s neck. 

 

Keith turned his head to look at Lance square in the face, reaching up to hold Lance’s head steady. “What?” Lance asked, startled and flustered by the action. 

 

“Your skin looks really pretty right now.” Keith rubbed his palm against Lance’s cheek once or twice before the sound of a car passing by distracted him, and he abandoned the thought. 

 

They continued to walk to Lance’s apartment. The only bad thing about being sober with drunk people was that Lance would remember  _ everything  _ that had happened this time. Though he wasn’t so sure if that was such a bad thing. 

 

They plodded up the steps, Keith started singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey. He sounded okay, Lance knew he would never sing if he had been sober. So Lance didn’t care if he was disturbing any neighbors at two o’clock on a Saturday morning. Lance unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. “Do you want anyth-..” Lance trailed off as Keith zoomed across the living room, pouncing on the wicker couch where Clem laid, sleeping. 

 

Clem yowled and hissed as she lept off the sofa. Keith cried out, reaching to her. “Bro, chill.” Lance shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and some bread. ”Here,” he said, bringing it back to Keith, who was still draped across the couch. “Eat this, you need a sponge.”

 

“Fuck your sponge.” Keith smacked the bread out of Lance’s hand. The slice of bread slapped onto the glass coffee table. Keith ran after the cat, who hissed and ran into Fauna’s bedroom. Lance caught him by the collar of his jacket, which Keith wormed his way out of. Lance used his other hand to try and restrain him with his arm. Lance threw Keith’s jacket to the floor.

 

“You need to calm down, Keith.” Lance twisted Keith around so that they would be face to face. Lance was panting, half fuming, but still trying not to be too mean to Keith. “Leave the cat alone.”

 

“Okay,” Keith replied as if he hadn’t cared about it in the slightest. Then he moved on to carelessly pushing Lance to the wall. 

 

“What are y-?” Lance was cut off by when Keith pressed his mouth onto his on. It tasted like a bar smelled: alcohol with a hint of cigarettes. If Lance was being honest, it was a bit gross. Lance wanted to push back, he felt like he was taking advantage of a drunk person. Though, truth be told, it was Lance that was being taken advantage of. 

 

Lance pushed his face away for a second, “Keith!” 

 

Keith hummed, bending his neck down to leave kisses on Lance’s throat. 

 

“You need-...” Lance trailed off once Keith hit a sweet spot. This change didn’t go unnoticed by Keith as he kept targeting the same area. “You can’t do this,  _ we  _ can’t do this.” Lance was losing his will. 

 

Keith bobbed his head back up and looked right into Lance’s blue eyes. “Do you not like it?” Lance swallowed. Keith was as blunt as ever, even when he was horny and drunk. 

 

“No, I do but.” He answered truthfully. “Shouldn’t we talk?” Keith took this as permission to attend to the blooming bruises developing on Lance’s collarbone. His whole body felt so sensitive, burning up. Almost involuntarily, Lance’s fingers entwined themselves in Keith’s hair, pulling out the hair band and sliding it down his wrist in one fluid motion. He could feel Keith smirk into his skin. 

 

“What’s there to talk about? We are both consenting adults and neither of us has an STI.”

 

“That’s true bu-”

 

Lance leaned more heavily into the wall, being sober meant everything was more conscious everything was more real. He had no earthly idea as to how his knees hadn’t buckled under him the first time the two of them had kissed. Lance kneaded through Keith’s scalp. He must have been quite a sight. Fully clothed, pressed against the wall, head back and breathing heavily while another boy seemingly attacked his neck with his mouth. 

 

_ ‘Okay, maybe I do actually like guys.’  _

 

* * *

 

 

Somehow or another, they made their way to Lance’s bed. There was a path of clothing and shoes strewn behind them. Lance was dumbstruck, Keith overtop of him. The violet eyes, the short curtain of fringe hanging from Keith’s forehead tickling lance’s face, it was all too much. Lance kissed Keith deeply, biting his lip. 

 

Keith’s hands patted down Lance’s toned torso, down to his boxers where he laid his hand, tauntingly. There was an embarrassing whine that Lance had tried his hardest to suppress, that came out of his throat; that noise became lost in Keith’s mouth. 

 

Keith couldn’t get enough of Lance’s fingers tugging wantonly at his hair. He parted from Lance’s lips, that way he could hear an unexpected groan extricate itself from his vocal cords. Lance felt his cheeks burning up, he had  _ never  _ made a noise like that before. 

 

Keith kept padding at Lance, teasing him. A wicked grin twisted onto his face, he quite enjoyed having Lance so pliable and under his control. “Ke-eith!” Lance panted, he meant it strongly, but it came out a lot more like a moan.

 

“Hmm?” Keith hummed, his mouth preoccupied as it trailed kisses down Lance’s abdomen. It tickled. 

 

“Stop it, it’s embarrassing.” Keith resurfaced his head and stopped his ministrations. 

 

“What is?” Keith looked him in the eye, he had sobered up a bit. Or so it seemed.

 

“This, I don’t want you to stop.” Lance covered his eyes with a hand, Keith proceeded to press his lips lower and lower, until he was at the waistband of his boxers. “How are you so calm about all of this?” Lance asked. 

 

Keith shrugged in response and busied his hands by pulling down his boxers centimeter by centimeter, it was almost unbearable. For Lance, but Keith was obviously relishing in it. It was quiet and Lance could hear hitching in his own breath. The noises coming out of his mouth was much less than glorified moans that just so happened to bear the resemblance of Keith’s name. 

 

It felt too intimate, Lance felt himself wishing he was also drunk so that the fact that he and Keith were fucking for the second time without so much as a conversation wouldn’t have bothered him. Talking would be too much, yet Lance could barely take the silence. 

 

Soon enough, Keith had slid the boxers off of Lance’s long legs. By that time, Keith had left a fair sized hickey on Lance’s hip. It felt exposing, Keith staring at his dick, and Lance doing nothing but just laying there. He felt a bit guilty, but Keith hadn’t given up control once since they had entered the bedroom. And Lance felt like a fucking idiot because he had not the foggiest idea what Keith did and didn't like. Yet Keith seemed to have him all figured out.

 

While Lance’s mind was rather preoccupied, Keith had decided his course of action. He held Lance’s dick in his hands and gave it an experimental pump. Lance hissed, his fingers further furling into the black locks of Keith’s hair. Satisfied with this reaction, Keith started sliding his hands up and down Lance’s cock more, spitting into one of them to make them glide. 

 

Lance bit his lip, unable to do much but lay back and hold onto Keith’s stupid mullet. Then Keith got the bright idea to  _ lick  _ a stripe of the underside of his erection. “ _ Fuck _ !” Lance cried, glad his roommates had moved out of the apartment next door. 

 

It didn’t end there, Keith began to swirl his tongue around Lance’s dick in a spiral motion. Soon thereafter, Keith added his entire mouth into the mix, bobbing his head while licking out the tip when he got to the top. It wasn’t quite deepthroating, but Lance didn’t care.

 

“Goddamnit Keith!” Lance howled, trying his best not to slam Keith’s face down further into his cock. 

 

“Hmmm?” Keith hummed, the vibrations caused Lance to spasm a little bit. Keith brought a hand underneath and began to play with Lance’s balls. Keith knew  _ exactly _ what he was doing. He was practically an expert!

 

_ ‘Just how many times,’  _ Lance wondered,  _ ‘has Keith done this before?’ _

 

He was already brought to the edge, Lance didn’t know how much more he could take when Keith stopped. He was rubbing Lance’s tip with his thumb. Keith climbed back over Lance, kissing him quickly, hungrily, and ravenously. Their tongues battled about each other’s mouths while Keith jerked off Lance until, finally, Lance came. 

 

_ ‘No fair,’  _ Thought Lance, laying back into the pillows, letting Keith pump out the last of his orgasm. 

 

Lance couldn’t very well let things end like that, Keith staring at him with those lusty violet eyes, licking cum off his fingers like melted ice cream or something.  _ ‘Fuck!’  _ The way Keith looked, nothing short of breathtaking. Lance wanted to burn Keith’s beauty in the back of his mind. It was fucked up that the moment had arisen from such dirty circumstances. Keith touched his tongue to the tips of his fingers and dragged it up and down the valleys of his digits. 

 

Lance took this moment to gather his bearings before sitting up. All that unspoken sexual tension building up since the last time they were like that was finally being released, and Lance would be damned if he just took it lying down. 

 

Lance tackled Keith and started to kiss Keith once more. This time it tasted differently.

 


	18. Sometimes Your Evening Doesn't Go as Planned, and That's Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe this is my last week of high school. The only thing I have done this week is making a powerpoint and write smut and it's honestly the best. I hope I have a lot of time this summer to work on this along with updating my other works. 
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are much appreciated.

Lance had dreams. Every night he would lay down in bed and dream of Keith. In some form or another, he was there. It was the second week of these dreams. 

 

Every morning he would wake up and reflect upon them while he was doing his routine. While he jogged around the block, he contemplated exactly what he wanted out of his relationship with Keith. He was well past internalized homophobia stage of things. He was no longer ashamed of it, but this pathed the way for even more perplexing thoughts. While the original shock of liking another man and not being disgusted by it had worn off there was something more. Now, he had more important concerns. Exactly how does he like Keith, and  _ why _ . 

 

Every goddamn morning Lance went through the same cycle of questions that never accomplished much and always resulted in more confusion then when he had started out. 

 

This particular morning was different. He had an afternoon shift at Book Nook, therefore he had a whole morning of relaxing to look forward to. 

 

When Lance exited the bathroom (he was showering after his morning run) in his robe while towel-drying his hair, he didn’t expect to see another man walking down the hallway. Lance also didn’t expect for him to go into the kitchen. 

 

Lance watched the man pull a carton of eggs from the fridge and rummaged around the cabinets until he found a small skillet. The man fired up the glass-topped electric range and sprayed the skillet liberally with cooking oil. 

 

Fauna exited her room, fully dressed with makeup on and smiling in a way Lance hadn’t ever seen her before. “Good morning Lance.” She hummed, making her way to the coffee machine. 

 

Living with Fauna was already weird enough, but this was downright surreal. Not only was Fauna home during the late morning, but up before noon! Not to mention, there was still a guy in her apartment. Normally, whomever she invited over would leave as soon as they woke up, but something was different. Lance could see through the kitchen that the couch had been slept on.  _ ‘Maybe they aren’t fucking?’  _

 

Lance changed quickly in his room before joining Fauna and the stranger in the Kitchen. Fauna poured Lance a mugful of hot coffee and hopped up on the counter wearing her kitten tights and a pastel purple skirt (it matched her hair) with a black crop top. She was wearing the cat-like contacts again. She still had her panda slippers on. They looked weird on her feet since she was fully dressed.

 

“Who’s this?” Lance asked casually as he opened the refrigerator to pull out some coffee creamer.

 

“Seth, meet Lance. Lance, meet Seth.” Fauna gestured between the two young men. Seth stuck out one of his hands for Lance to shake. Seth was a handsome man with a complexion only a few shades darker than his own. He had long hair that was bleached white and thrown up in a messy knot on the back of his head. There was a tribal tattoo curled around one of his toned biceps. He had a deep, soothing voice, “Nice to meet you”.

 

“Yeah.” 

 

* * *

 

 

Seth has made brunch for Lance before Lance headed out to Café Altea for his coffee. Seth and Fauna further explained that Seth was Fauna’s best friend back in high school and that he was staying for a few days, for a little visit. 

 

When Lance got back from Book Nook, Seth was there, cleaning all of the cat hair off the peacock chair with a lint roller. The cushions and pillows had been plumped, the Mexican blanket had been washed and draped neatly over the back of the wicker couch, and there was not a dust bunny in sight. It was as if Snow White had come in and reverse vandalized the place.

 

“Hey,” Lance said curtly as he made a beeline for his bedroom. It felt like how his friends in high school had described it was when their parents had split up and their mom’s boyfriends (or their dad’s girlfriends) moved in.

 

Lance texted Keith. 

 

_ Hey do u wanna hang out tonight  _

 

_ that Seth guy is still here but Fauna isnt  _

 

An hour passed and Keith didn’t respond and Fauna hadn’t come home again. Seth has moved on to scrubbing out the shower and the rest of the bathroom in its entirety. 

 

There was a knock at the door. Lance left to go open it, not knowing who to expect when he opened it. Once he saw who it was he opened the door with haste. 

 

“Keith? What are you doing here?”

 

“You said you wanted to hang out,” Keith said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He seemed  _ off. _

 

“You didn’t even respond to my text.” Lance moved to the side 

 

“Did you want me to come over or not,” Keith said indignantly, a hand on the door as if he were threatening to leave at that very moment. 

 

“Well, who put you in your good mood?” Lance asked, trying to lead Keith farther into the apartment. 

 

Keith didn’t answer but instead helped himself to the beer in the fridge. He came back to the living room and offered Clem a catnip mouse, which she snatched out of his hand as soon as it was produced. He put a white paper bag on the coffee table before plopping onto the couch. 

 

Lance sat down next to Keith on the couch but didn’t grab himself a drink. He opened his mouth to say something until he was interrupted by Seth. “Hey Lance, do you think Fauna has an-...” Seth stopped in his tracks and his eyes scanned quickly over a moody Keith, who was straight up chugging his beer. Lance saw Seth watching Keith’s Adam’s apple bob with every gulp with playful curiosity. There was something else in his eyes, but he seemed to be nodding with approval before opening his mouth to speak.

 

“I didn’t know you had company, sorry.” Seth apologized though Lance could tell he was more amused than apologetic. He watched Keith set down the now empty beer bottle and wipe his mouth on his sleeve. It should have been gross, but Lance found it mildly sexy. 

 

_ ‘No Lance! Now is not the time! Seth was totally checking him out!’ _

 

“What were you saying?” Lance asked as if he saw nothing. 

 

“Nothing,” Seth broke away from looking at Keith, “I am meeting Fauna at the Oddman in about a half hour, I’d ask if you wanted to go but you seem like you’re otherwise  _ occupied _ tonight.” 

 

Keith finally was looking at Seth. But Keith had also just chugged an entire beer and was already a bit weird when he had first arrived so Lance was a little dubious about how Keith was processing things. Keith seemed like he wasn’t just on his first beer. 

 

“Ah, yeah, think we might need to have a rain check.” Lance scratched the back of his head nervously. He was glad Keith was there so he had an excuse. 

 

“Okay, I’m heading out then,” Seth said on his way to the door. 

 

Once Seth had left the apartment, Keith got up and got another beer, which he finished before he was halfway across the living room. 

 

“Keith, you need to slow down,” Lance warned. Keith just sank down into the couch and set down his empty bottle on the table before he pounced on Lance. 

 

Lance almost melted.  _ ‘What the fuck?’  _ He thought. Lance pushed Keith off, “What the fuck!” He cried. 

 

Keith groaned in annoyance. “I don’t see the problem.” 

 

“Why are you doing this?” Lance asked. He was laying down and Keith was straddling him, both hands pressed onto Lance’s torso, one hand was slipped under the hem of Lance’s tee shirt, the other firmly planted on his chest. 

 

“Didn’t you invite me over so we could fuck?” Keith asked as if it were the most obvious answer. 

 

“Wha- no!” Keith has taken his hand from under Lance’s shirt and sat up straighter. “I just wanted to spend time with you.” Lance sputtered, his cheeks were visibly red. 

 

“Oh,” Keith said. “I probably shouldn’t‘ve drank both of those beers so fast. It’s really hot in here now.” Keith seemed a slight bit embarrassed but overall just buzzed. He crawled nonchalantly off of Lance and picked up the paper bag on the coffee table and held it close to his chest as if it were something important. “We won’t be needing these either.” He said almost mournfully, playing it up. 

 

Lance propped himself up on his elbows and cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. 

 

“What is it?” Keith handed him the bag and Lance peeked inside, he was instantly dumbstruck. A blush crept onto his cheeks and he swallowed thickly. “Oh.” 

 

“But you don’t want to do it so it’s okay. I should leave.” Keith got up and took the bag from Lance, walking away. 

 

Lance grabbed onto Keith’s wrist. He didn’t know why, he hadn’t intended to, maybe it was a reflex.  Regardless, Lance was inviting Keith to stay with him. A wicked grin spread across Keith’s face, but all Lance could see was Keith’s back. 


	19. I'm No Expert, but I Think You May be Falling for Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do my senior internship and I was so tired after lugging around tiles that I completely forgot about updating this the other day. Sorry for the late chapter! It is kinda short and I completely have no recollection of writing it. Enjoy!

So naturally, things progressed to where Keith was in Lance’s bedroom.  _ ‘Is this gonna become a regular thing for us now? Are we not gonna be able to just hang out without sex?’  _ Lance thought as he pulled down Keith’s pants. “Which one of us are going to,  _ y’know _ ?” 

 

“Hmmm.” Keith hummed. “There’s only one fair way to decide,” Keith said playfully fishing a quarter out of the pocket of his jeans. “Heads, I tail, tails, you bottom.”

 

They played best two out of three and it was heads. 

 

It was probably for the best, Lance had never bottomed for anyone and he didn’t know how comfortable he felt about that. In both of the times that they had hooked up, there was never any penetration. Mainly because both of them had been too drunk. “It’s okay, I can talk you through it.” Keith placed his hand on Lance’s gently and squeezed it. He was pretty good at handling himself when he was intoxicated, at least he was this time. 

 

Lance blushed, he felt like he was back to being sixteen and a virgin, with a girl for the first time. It was embarrassing. 

 

“Are you scared?” Keith baited. There was a smug curl to his lips that Lance thought was really cute. 

 

“No!” Lance blushed. Keith slid his hand up the hem of Lance’s shirt. 

 

“That’s good,” he pulled off Lance’s shirt and threw it on the floor where Lance’s jeans were previously discarded. 

 

Keith propped up some pillows and sat down, leaning back leisurely. Lance watched as Keith brought up his knees and began to strip off his boxers. He brought a finger to his mouth and sucked on it, he licked in between the valley of his index finger and his middle finger. Lance never knew something like that could be so  _ hot _ . Keith spread his legs wider and turned on the lamp on the bedside table so Lance could see better. 

 

Keith had next to no expression on his face but his cheeks were flushed from the alcohol. He didn’t even look at Lance as he drew his fingers out of his mouth and began to trace around his asshole. Every now and again, he would dip his fingertip in, but it was a while before he actually took the plunge and inserted his pointer finger in. He used his middle finger to trace around outside while he fingered himself, soon, he added the second finger. His breath was hitching and his cheeks were even redder than before, but he still had that same jaded expression. He further laid out his head onto the pillows with a deep sigh, his unattended boner started to look a bit in need. Keith let out a bit of a moan, which made Lance shiver, he felt harder (if that was even possible). Watching Keith loosen himself up was making Lance almost unbearably horny. 

 

Keith fished the lube out of the paper bag he had brought with him and with his free hand popped open the lid. “Give me your hand.” Lance watched Keith pour a generous amount into his digits. 

 

Now Keith poured a tiny bit into his own hand and began rubbing himself out, legs still spread, inviting. 

 

Lance hesitantly pushed his ring finger inside of Keith. He inserted his middle next, Keith moaned. 

Lance had a sloppy grin on his face when he inserted his index finger, massaging the walls inside Keith’s ass. “Does it hurt?” Lance asked.

 

“I’m a lot sturdier than you think McClain.” Keith managed to say with a confident chuckle, his breath still hitching. 

 

“How do I know if it’s loose enough?” Keith was slick and Lance’s fingers were gliding easily in and out. 

 

“The bag,” Keith panted, “get it out”. Lance used his unoccupied hand to retrieve a toy from the bag. “Put a condom on it first.”

 

Lance rolled a condom onto the toy and slicked it up before turning it on. The dildo vibrated on the low setting and Keith paused his ministrations so he could spread his asscheeks wide for Lance. Lance buzzed it around Keith’s rim experimentally, Keith groaned and his face changed. Lance decided he liked it when Keith got vocal.

 

Lance began pumping it in and out slowly, tip only at first, but each thrust he plunged the toy deeper and deeper into Keith’s ass. His hands shook with trepidation, he really didn’t want to hurt him. Keith squeezed his own dick. Lance started picking up the pace, and he must have hit Keith’s prostate or something because when he thrust in, Keith came all over his hand. Lance, with his face being quite close to Keith’s dick, got cum all over his face. He wiped it off with the back of his hand. 

 

Keith didn’t apologize, he was too busy rushing in the afterglow. Lance turned up the setting on the vibrator and Keith swore. “Am I doing it right?” Lance asked, feeling a mixture of arrogance and nervousness.  He put it up another setting, he was dragging it out slowly, it was almost entirely out and Keith would whine and his body would shiver involuntary, that’s when Lance would quickly shove it back in, and start over. Keith began to buck his hips, but Lance pushed down Keith’s hips with his free hand. Keith’s face was a blend of pleasure and mild annoyance.

 

All Keith could say was: “Fuck!”  Lance never expected anything like this to happen in his lifetime, or for him to be so turned on by it. “Lance, stop teasing me,” Keith ordered, though it was hard to take the authoritative tone seriously when it came from between pants. “I’m ready.”  It was perfect timing, really, Lance didn’t know how much longer he could last before he started taking care of himself. He grabbed the condoms and the lube, but left the vibrator going inside of Keith’s ass, but not before putting it up a higher setting. Keith gripped the bed sheets, he was getting hard again. 

 

“Goddamn, Lance!”  Keith growled. 

 

“Do you not like it?” Lance asked, laughing. 

 

“Damn you.” Keith must have been biting his bottom lip earlier because it was swollen and red. Lance opened the condom package and rolled it onto himself. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he leaned in to kiss Keith’s swollen bottom lip as he pulled out the vibrator and turned it off. Keith kissed back, roughly and hungrily. “Can we still go on? Did I mess up?” Lance sat back. “Should we have established a safe word?” Lance was saying too many things all at once. Keith wasn’t listening at all.

 

“Lance.” Keith’s breathing was still ragged.

 

“Yes?” Lance said nervously, awaiting the worst.

 

“Just fuck me already.” 

 

Lance did as he was told, with enthusiasm. ‘ _ It’s kind of like being with a woman’ _ , Lance thought, ‘ _ but tighter, and with more leg hair’ _ . Lance was very gentle with Keith, at first. That was until he started hitting Keith’s prostate. Then Lance near about lost control when he thrust in and drew a low moan from Keith. Keith covered his mouth with his hand to try to keep quiet. Lance grabbed his hand. “I want to hear from you.” 

 

He was red to his ears and if Lance wasn’t mistaken, tears in the corner of one of his eyes. God, Lance really hoped he wasn’t hurting him.  “Where was this side of you the other night?” Keith asked, struggling to keep his voice steady.

 

“I could ask you the same thing. You sound so cute when you moan.” Lance praised. “It would be even hotter if you said my name though.” He thrust in again, his tone was half teasing.

 

Keith was still flushed but he managed to say “Lance” in his quaking voice.

 

“Louder,” Lance demanded, he was thrusting a bit faster than before. 

 

The second time Keith moaned Lance’s name, it sounded like he was going over a bumpy road. His name was broken up into many unnatural syllables. Lance padded around for Keith’s dick and started jerking him off while he thrust. 

“La- a- an- c- ce!” Keith arched his back a bit and all but howled, as if he couldn’t take the stimulation anymore. Lance came, and shortly after, Keith came for the second time that night.  Lance kept pumping until Keith was finished, then he made sure to lick up every last drop of Keith’s cum while Keith was still shouting Lance’s name and other profanity due to the intense overstimulation. It tasted different than what Lance had imagined, and he was surprised that he even did something like that in the first place. Mainly because he had no idea why he did anything these days.

 

“You’re really somethin’,”  Lance managed to say between deep breaths, licking his lips. “You did so well.” Lance tied the condom and disposed of it in his wastebasket.

 

“You’re telling me?” Keith laughed weakly after he caught his breath. “I didn’t know you had something like this in you.” Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s midriff and laid down on him, momentarily forgetting that his chest would be covered in a trail of his own saliva and Keith’s cum.

  
  


“Better watch out there, Kogane, you could fall for me.” He smirked, pressing his lips into Keith’s torso.

 

“In your dreams, McClain.” Keith furled his fingers down to Lance’s shorter brown hair and let them weave in between his locks as Keith let his eyes flutter closed. 

  
_ ‘He’s right.’  _ Lance agreed though he wouldn’t admit so out loud.


End file.
